Linear Perspective
by Thnx4theGum
Summary: What would Season 6 look like if B&B were together? How would the cases affect them? The next story in the "Horizon Line" and "Vanishing Point" world. T for cases and because, well, B&B are together.
1. Gotta Start Somewhere

**Happy New Year!**

**The response to "Horizon Line" and "Vanishing Point" was so great I couldn't help but want to jump into a third one. This story, like "Vanishing Point" follows the general plot of the show - in this case, season six - though obviously the characters are in a little different spot than they were in the "real" season six. Hope you enjoy my take on what _could_ have happened! I love hearing from all of you so please drop a line and say hi to me on Twitter. I'm Thnx4theGum**

**Gum :)**

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Linear Perspective

Chapter 1: Gotta Start Somewhere

Seeley Booth leaned back in his beach chair and yawned, drinking in the sights and smells surrounding him. Stretched out in front of him was a panoramic view of the Atlantic, white-capped waves extending out as far as the eye could see. On shore, the sun's residual heat radiated up from the white sand, keeping his legs warm despite the coolness of the encroaching night. Purples, pinks, oranges, and reds blended together in the rippling clouds as the sun dipped low in the western sky.

Beside him, lay an even more beautiful sight as the woman he loved sighed gently in her sleep, her hand coming to rest unconsciously on the gentle swell of her abdomen. Her newly styled hair, pulled back in a ponytail to escape the ocean zephyrs, framed her face perfectly, reminding him of the brash young woman he'd kissed in the rain so many years ago.

His phone vibrated in the sand beside him and he stood, scooping it up and bringing it to his ear in one smooth motion, "Booth."

"Hello?" the voice on the other end spoke loudly as if she hadn't heard him.

"I'm here, Caroline," he said at his normal volume now as he entered the beach house, far away from the sleeping woman. "What's up?"

"What's up?" he pulled the phone away from his ear to shield himself from the prosecutor's roar. "You and your partner abandon decent civilization without so much as a post card for a _month_ and you ask 'what's up?'"

"Caroline-" he started to protest, reaching for some bread to make himself a sandwich.

"I know, I know, you two decided to run away after the bad guys framed you for murder and took Dr. Brennan away while they were at it," he could almost see Caroline gesticulating wildly on the other end. "And now you're growing a baby together and that is all well and good, but we need you back in the real world again and pronto."

"What's going on?" Booth's buttered bread and the sandwich fixings were abandoned as he snapped to attention. "Is everyone okay?"

"If by okay you mean the standing and breathing part than yes," she confirmed. "But as far as the crime-solving, murderer-catching, job-keeping part goes: no."

"Cam?"

"You got it in one, Cherie," Caroline nodded, earrings clacking against the phone noisily.

Booth moved out to the porch and sank into the hammock, listening as Caroline filled him in on the situation with Cam and the missing boy. They'd heard about it on the news when it had happened, of course, but he didn't realize that the case had gone cold, or that a set of young boy's remains had been found, putting Cam under the microscope. With Hodgins and Angela still away on their honeymoon, Booth on leave, and Brennan on sabbatical, it left Cam in a tight spot and there was little or nothing she and Sweets could do without the rest of the team.

"Look, Caroline," he started, "I know what you're asking, but I don't know if we're ready-"

A soft hand rested on his arm, cutting him off, "We're ready."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

After waking to find herself alone on the beach, Temperance Brennan made her way back to the bungalow where she and Booth had been living for the past month, curious as to what could have drawn him away. He was swinging lazily in the hammock, but his voice was all business, his focus so tight she wasn't sure he heard her come up beside him.

Caroline's voice was easy to recognize even if she couldn't make out the exact words. Catching the gist of the conversation from there was relatively easy and there was no doubt in her mind that they would go back when the question was finally raised. As she'd expected, Booth looked surprised to see her and told the prosecutor they'd let her know their plans soon before he hung up.

"Bones-"

"Shh," she pressed a finger to his lips. "Cam needs us. We're going home."

"It's not that simple," he shook his head, gathering her into his arms as he leaned back once more. "We haven't figured out how things will be sorted out at work, or where we're going to live, or when you're finally going to marry me."

She pulled away slightly and met his eyes, "Being married to you is _not_ a prerequisite for going back to DC."

"It'd be nice to have a date," he raised a eyebrow, then shrugged. "Pops has been asking."

"You leave Hank to me," she told him.

"And what about the other stuff?" he asked gently, trailing light kisses up and down her neck.

"Hacker gave himself permission to date me, so he can't argue with our engagement, and as for our apartments," she sank back closer into him with a yawn, "we each have leases to fulfill."

Booth sensed this wasn't the time to press the apartment issue and instead settled his hands on her stomach. At twelve weeks along, only someone who knew to look would notice how much fuller she was all around and the slight raising at her mid-section. Even the people they'd gotten to know in passing over their stay didn't realize she was pregnant and the part of Booth that was extremely private loved that. He loved having a secret here that only they knew and a tiny piece of him wished that none of their families knew either.

"So how big is Bean by now?" he asked, his nimble fingers releasing the lower buttons on her blouse so that he could slide his hand against the warmth of her still-smooth skin.

She'd given up chiding him about his nickname for the baby weeks ago and he closed his eyes, allowing his fingers to rest over the little one as his partner in life and love spilled out every drop of information she had. It fascinated him that she could store all of that knowledge in her brain and recall it at the drop of a hat. He'd read all the dad books he could get his hands on back when they'd first found out, but he was lucky if he remembered the chapter titles, let alone what was inside of them.

There was a sense of wonder in her voice as she talked about how the baby's kidneys would soon begin secreting urine and his or her brain structure was now exactly the way it would be twenty-eight weeks from now when they were born. This was one of the things he enjoyed most about these moments because it not only helped him imagine what their tiny son or daughter looked like, but it helped him see the pregnancy through Brennan's eyes as well. He would challenge anyone who'd ever accused her of being cold or unfeeling to say the same after one of these sessions, which sometimes ended with a few tears leaking down her cheeks.

Tonight, though, the hormones didn't get the best of her and when she was done she announced it was high time they found something to eat.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"Why are you so reluctant to go back?" she asked, abandoning her now-empty plate to the coffee table and stretching out on the couch. "Cam is one of your oldest friends, don't you _want_ to help her?"

"Of course," a slight scowl crossed his face as he lifted his arms to accept her feet on his lap, "But you're more important, Bones."

"Me?" she tilted her head to one side.

Finishing the last of his sandwich, he smiled tenderly and nodded, speaking softly, "Not that long ago you told me you needed a break from the violence, the crimes, the danger, and the stress of what we do, Bones. You had nightmares; you were constantly worried; and you damn near threw everything between us away after Heather Taffet's trial because it was getting to you so much.

"_If,_" he stressed the word heavily, "we go back all of those things will still be there. Our jobs will go back to being what they always were and if you're still not ready for that, I don't wanna rush it. Especially now, with Bean in the equation."

"Bean," she couldn't help the light chuckle at the nickname, "will be fine. My body is designed to nurture and protect at this stage of development and I wouldn't do anything to put myself or our child deliberately in harm's way.

"That being said, the remainder of your concerns are also unnecessary," she smiled, attempting not to minimize his feelings on the subject. "Our time here has provided me the much needed rest and objective perspective I needed to refocus and now I want to help Cam."

"And after that?" he pressed gently.

His eyes soaked up the blue-gray of hers, catching the sliver of uncertainty they still held before her shoulders hitched up and down.

"Okay," he nodded, reaching out to take her hand. "We'll start with helping Cam and see where it goes from there."


	2. Catching Up to a New Reality

Chapter 2: Catching Up to A New Reality

Neither of them slept late the next morning and by early afternoon they were approaching the city limits. Booth dropped Brennan off at her apartment building and for the first time in seven months he found himself returning to a home that didn't have Brennan's things mixed casually with his own. She was insistent that the most efficient use of their time was to check in on their apartments separately and meet back up later. Max had been living in her place and she wanted to check in on him.

Booth, meanwhile, found himself with plenty of time on his hands and nothing to do. Apart from having to open some windows to stir the stale air, Booth found things in good order. Jared and Padme had been keeping an eye on everything for him and it was clear his sister-in-law had kept up with the dusting and light cleaning during that time too. Even his fridge had been stocked and there was a note welcoming him back and inviting him and Brennan out to the Founding Fathers for dinner later in the week.

It wasn't long before he became restless, then lonely. He knew she'd be back later and that the plan was for them to sleep at his place, but things felt much less stable beyond that. Aside from avoiding any talk of a wedding date, his fiancee had definitely balked at the thought of getting their own place in DC. Clearly the notion that they would give up their leases hadn't occurred to her and it seemed as if she was unsure what to do in that regard. Add to that her indecisiveness of whether to stay in DC or not, and Booth was starting to question where they stood.

His phone rang, shattering the silence and he pounced on it as soon as he caught the ring-tone, "Hey, Bones! You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," her smile could be heard across the line. "My father and I have had a highly enjoyable afternoon."

"Great!" he couldn't resent the happiness in her voice.

"Yes," she agreed enthusiastically. "We're going to dinner in a few minutes."

"Oh," his heart sank a little, though he mustered up as much of a supportive vibe as he could for the remainder of the conversation.

He spent the next three hours idly flipping through channels and working his way through a box of Captain Crunch. Finally unable to stomach his restlessness any further, he grabbed his keys and headed out.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Although not kept quite to her high standards, Max _had_ taken good care of his daughter's apartment in her absence. What she didn't know was he'd taken off work when she'd called to tell him she was returning. Half of that time he'd spent cleaning and the other half pacing the floor with nervous anticipation. Sometimes he felt like he was walking on eggshells when it came to his Tempe and while he acknowledged his mistakes had caused the breech in trust, it didn't stop him from trying his best to make this right.

When she finally walked through the door his breath caught in his throat. She was tired and road weary, but she tucked her hair behind her ear like her mother, smiled widely at him like she had was she was a little girl, and ran into his arms when he opened them. He held her just a tad longer than dads with a daughter in their mid-thirties normally do, but neither of them cared.

There was a glow on her face and a softness in the way she spoke now that both pained and comforted him. He wished his Ruthie could see what a fine woman their little girl had become; that she would be there with him to "ooh" and "ah" over this first Brennan grandchild. To his delight, Tempe had questions – numerous questions – about what her mother's pregnancies had been like and what she kind of baby she'd been. They talked for so long, Max suggested they discuss it further over dinner.

"You seem very invigorated tonight," she commented, sipping at her club soda as dinner drew to a close.

"I'm with my beautiful daughter, who's having my grandchild," Max returned with a cheeky grin. "I'm the happiest man on Earth."

"While I doubt that's quantifiable," she chuckled, "I'm glad you're happy. Booth seems to be quite pleased as well."

"Of course he is!" Max smiled nostalgically, "I remember how giddy I was when we found out about you. Your mom couldn't get me to shut up about it."

They shared a laugh and picked at their desserts for a little longer before he suggested they head out and take a short walk. . It was a crisp, clear night as they went along, taking in the sounds of a city far from being at rest. All of a sudden she ground to halt and stared straight ahead.

His arm felt the loss as she separated from him and began quickly walking away. It was only then Max spotted the other man, coming out from the crowd of people and moving swiftly to meet her halfway. Max watched Booth's face light up with pure joy as he enfolded Temperance in a tight hug.

Passerbys gave them a wide berth and after a few long seconds, Max's eyes met Booth's and the older man conceded that his daughter was no longer only his to love. With a small salute, he turned and walked away, knowing that she was in the arms of the only man he trusted to take care of her.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

"I missed you," Booth told her when they finally pulled back.

She laughed, "It's only been seven hours, Booth, not seven months."

"Felt like it," he insisted.

Her eyes rolled, then she looked around, "Where did my father go?"

"Home, probably," guessed Booth, settling his arm around her waist. "Did you two have fun tonight?"

Brennan nodded brightly and the more she shared how much insight Max had given her, the less Booth begrudged them their time. The couple walked a bit farther before they settled on a familiar flight of steps.

"Seems like forever since we've been here," he observed as she sat loosely in his arms.

"Yeah."

"Anything exciting happen to you since then?" he asked as if he didn't know the answer.

She looked up at him questioningly, but played along, "I was kidnapped for a time, but I escaped with the aid of a younger man."

"Did you fall for him?" Booth smirked.

She bit her bottom lip to contain a giggle, then shook her head, "We were far too busy concentrating on escape. There was no time or inclination for sex or romance. Why, did you fall for someone?"

It took a second for him to recover from that mental image, but when he did he shot back with a sly smile and a shrug, "Kinda."

"Is it serious?" her question was still light, but laced with a trace of confusion.

"As a gas attack," his voice rumbled low in her ear as he pulled her to him, his hand coming to rest on her tiny baby bump.

Understanding dawned and her face lit up with playful glee once again, "That's very serious, indeed. Do you have a picture?"

"Yep," he nodded cockily, plucking his phone from his pocket and popping up the latest ultrasound picture.

"Beautiful," Brennan breathed, moving her hand to lay beside his.

For a long moment neither of them spoke, but quietly contemplated all that had changed since they'd left and what changes still lay ahead.

"I find I'm looking forward to seeing everyone," Brennan said suddenly, rising to her feet to leave.

"Whoa, there, Bones, where are you going?" he caught hold of her arm.

"To the lab," she said as if he should know better than to ask.

"About that," he said, helping her to her feet. "Apparently we're not the only ones who've changed." She looked up expectantly, waiting for him to go on, so he did. _"If_ you'd bothered to call anyone today," he teased, "you would've known Cam's not at the lab any more."

"So where are we meeting?" she asked impatiently, feeling this was no time for games.

"Hoover conference room in an hour," he smirked.

"And if you hadn't run into me here by chance how would I know this?"

He laughed and threw his arm around her, steering her in the right direction, "_I_ would've called."


	3. Family With a Side Dish of Guilt

Chapter 3: 

Despite the location, the gathering was more of a family reunion than a business meeting. Hugs and greetings were exchanged and voices overlapped as stories were swapped. Cam, Angela, and Brennan talked about the baby, while the men mentioned it in passing before moving on to topics like hockey and fantasy football.

Of course it took an act of Caroline to remind them what their true purpose in meeting was. As if a switch had been turned on in the room, suddenly they were all business. They went over the facts of the case thus far, tallying the lack of evidence and progress that had been made due to sub-par forensics work. Caroline made sure to remind them Cam's job was at stake. It was agreed they would take the case starting bright and early the next morning.

Once almost everyone else had trickled out, Booth announced he needed to check in with Charlie, leaving Cam and Brennan alone together.

"I never envisioned this happening," Brennan said as she came to the realization that all of her interns had moved on in her absence.

"No, you didn't."

"Are you upset with me, Cam?" Brennan's head tilted, meeting the other woman's eyes.

"If this is a temporary layover for you than yes," Cam nodded. "Yes I am. We had a great thing going, Dr. Brennan and I know you and Booth had some stuff you needed to sort out. But it's been long enough now don't you think?"

Brennan stared speechless, her eyes wide with surprise.

Cam shook her head to clear it, "Look, it's your choice, obviously, but before you decide you might want to consider if you're willing to let everything we've _all_ worked for crumble just to serve your own needs."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

The next morning found a well-rested Booth and Brennan sharing breakfast at the diner with Parker, who was obviously thrilled his dad was back in DC.

"Dad," he looked up suddenly, "did you ever have to kill anybody when you were a soldier?"

The two adults exchanged a look.

"Why are you asking me that?" Booth wondered out loud.

"My friends want to know," he shrugged, not noticing the adults relax at his explanation. "What should I tell them?"

Brennan listened with interest as Booth answered his son's question, realizing one day they might need to have the same conversation with their own child. She was pleased to hear him promise to discuss it with Parker when he was a man instead of lying to him to protect him. For as far as she had come in her viewpoint on children, she still felt it was wrong to lie to them. Booth was sparing his son from a heavy burden at a young age, but still keeping the lines of communication open for the future.

Beside her, Parker frowned as Booth reached across the table to cut the boy's pancakes.

"Dad, I'm not five," Parker rolled his eyes, looking to Brennan for support. "He _always_ does this."

"I don't want you to hurt yourself," Booth said defensively.

Brennan snorted her milk at that, "With a butter knife?"

"Hey, it could happen. He cut himself on a spoon before," Booth continued cutting.

"It was plastic," Parker shook his head, "and that was like two years ago!"

"You should let him try," she agreed.

"Maybe Bean will be on my side," he grunted, putting the final touches on..

"Uh, Booth, I think that's enough syrup," Brennan pointed to the upended bottle in his hand.

"Nah," Parker shook his head with a wide grin. "You can never have too much syrup!"

"That's my boy!" Booth high-fived him and passed the plate back. "Eat up!"

Parker was disappointed that they had to drop him off at Rebecca's right after breakfast, but understood that they had a case to solve and was placated when they promised he could come over for dinner if it was alright with his mom. It was Saturday, so she didn't mind and even okayed him spending the night.

Meanwhile, there _was _a case to be solved and reluctantly the partners realized they would get more accomplished faster if they split up. Booth headed to the Hoover, while Brennan went in search of one of her missing interns. With Wendell in tow she headed back to the makeshift lab where Cam and Angela were already assembled.

"Oh man, what smells in here?" Booth wrinkled his nose as he entered the makeshift lab later that afternoon.

"Welcome to Hell," Hodgins intoned with a broad sweep of his arm.

"Bones said you got something?" Booth ignored the bug man, concentrating on Cam.

"More than just something," Hodgins told him.

"Lots of somethings," Wendell joined in on the good-natured ribbing. "Everyone found something."

"Except Cam," Brennan corrected. "Which is why we're all here-"

"- in Hell," this came from Hodgins who was elbowed quickly by his wife.

"Can one of you _please_ tell me what's going on before I pass out from the smell?" begged the agent, suddenly remembering why he preferred briefings from Brennan alone. In his office.

"It's not the lost boy," Brennan told him. "Facial markers are more indicative of an Asian _and_ Hodgins pinpointed an accurate time of death."

"You're sure?" Booth knew how much was at stake for them to get this right.

"Maggots never lie, dude," Hodgins boasted.

"We're sure," Cam said. "This boy is _not_ Logan Bartlett."

"Works for me," Booth tapped the file and turned to leave. "Grab your stuff, Bones! We've got a prosecutor to fill in!" He turned back around for a second, "And thanks, you guys. Good work."

Caroline was a little stunned they'd ruled out Logan already, making references to terminology regarding a time system Brennan wasn't familiar with that involved "cha chas." With Angela's words still ringing in her mind, Brennan was quick to point out they hadn't actually solved anything, merely determined that the murdered boy was not the missing boy. Under a thick layer of sarcasm, Caroline agreed and sent them on their way.

"Hey, check it out," Booth grinned as they walked past the bullpen. "They're putting my old office back together."

"You want to stay, don't you?" it was more of a statement than a question.

Booth pulled her into the half-empty office, closing the door for privacy. "I do."

"For Parker?" she guessed.

"Partly," he admitted. "And partly because this is home and _this_," he pointed between the two of them, "is what we do best. Though if you're not ready to jump back into it full-time I'll support you."

"I'm still considering it," she told him honestly. "Cam gave me some factors to consider that I hadn't previously, but I prefer to reserve final judgment until after we solve the case."

"Fair enough," he smiled. "Why don't you go find Angela or someone and get some lunch for you and Bean? I'd take you, but I'm swamped with paperwork."

To his surprise she didn't argue and the surprise turned to shock when she gave him a long, fairly passionate kiss before turning to leave.

"Looks like somebody found her missing link to humanity on your little jaunt after all," Caroline commented before Booth could slip away. He grunted noncommittally but she went on, "I'm gonna presume this whole boy meets girl thing is not going to interfere with your jobs."

"Of course not," he scoffed. "Bones and I are professionals."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night, Cherie," she gave a sly grin. "I cleared everything with Hacker so as soon as this case is solved you can bring back the whole Scooby gang and get me some convictions."

"Thanks, Caroline," his smile was genuine. "We missed you too."

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

By the end of the day, the partners felt that they were headed in the right direction in terms of the case and finding their work rhythm again. Hodgins invited them to the Founding Fathers, but after explaining about Parker, it was decided that he and Angela would come over to Booth's instead. Cam had an event to attend with Michelle already that night and Sweets said he and Daisy needed to catch up now that she was stateside.

"I still can't believe we're going to get to be moms together," Angela whispered and she and Brennan put the finishing touches on dinner.

Brennan looked around to be sure no one was eavesdropping before donning her own conspiratorial smile, "Yes. I'm sure our child will benefit from having you as a metaphorical aunt."

"It'll be great!" Angela exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Where's the food?" Parker yelled from the living room.

"We need to have girls," winked the artist as she gathered the food and took it out to the starving menfolk.

Three hours and several games of Wii Boxing later, Parker was in bed and the two couples sat on either end of the couch, simply enjoying each other's company while the news droned on in the background.

"And now we would like to take a few moments and honor those who have recently fallen," the newscaster said.

A steady montage of faces paraded across the screen under-girded by Lee Greenwood's solid vocals and moving melody.

"So young," Angela murmured, swiping at a tear.

"And hot," Hodgins commented as a blonde, female journalist's picture came up toward the end. "Sorry," he apologized quickly, reddening at the glares from Booth and Angela. "This might sound selfish, man, but I'm glad you didn't go."

Booth nodded, but said very little. When the news ended, the Hodgins-Montanegro crew decided it was time for them to head home. Hugs were exchanged by the women, handshakes by the men, and it was agreed that if Booth and Brennan stayed the two couples would get together for nights like this more often.


	4. Click Your Heels Three Times

**A/N: For those keeping score at home, Hannah wasn't reporting the news, she WAS the news. If Booth hadn't been there to save her, she would've died. I imagine she's buried under a fig tree...**

**GUM**

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Chapter 4: Click Your Heels Three Times

For Cam, once the team arrived it felt like a breath of fresh air despite the "lab" conditions. Back in early Spring when Booth and Brennan had decided to take a break from the Jeffersonian, and Hodgins and Angela had decided to go to Paris, Cam had believed it was all for the best. Watching the two couples dance around each other for the better part of her four year tenure hadn't been the easiest thing to endure and emotions were still running high from the Grave Digger case. While she was happy they'd triumphed over the impossible yet again, even she had to admit it had worn her out.

As the days turned to weeks and weeks, months, however, she discovered Dr. Brennan wasn't the only one who'd changed over time. The once fiercely independent pathologist found herself battling loneliness as one by one Brennan's interns scattered, leaving her alone in the lab. She hadn't missed the irony that a Brennan and crew-free lab was what she'd fantasized about when she'd first taken over. Back then all she'd wanted was a ticket out of the scuzzy coroner's quarters and something that had equipment that didn't come from Home Depot.

After a few missteps and some negotiating with the _true_ head of the lab, Cam had settled in and found herself pulled in by the little group. Slowly they'd morphed from respected colleagues, to friends, to family. Being left behind hurt more than she would ever admit to anyone. Their brief reunion when Brennan had been kidnapped and Booth framed for murder was a stark reminder of all Cam had lost. So now, with all of them clicking together like they'd never left, it felt good and right; but it also felt like someone was dripping lemon juice on her open paper cut.

"So the boy wasn't murdered?" Caroline Julian raised an eyebrow.

"Not according to Dr. Brennan."

"Yes," the prosecutor nodded, dragging the word out. "What's your take on the whole thing?"

"What thing?" she shrugged.

"Don't play dumb with me, Dr. Saroyan, you know what I'm talking about," Caroline scolded her. "You gonna be okay if the fab four decide to pack it up again?"

"Yes." Cam struggled to keep an indifferent look, but failed as her shoulders slumped, "No – oh, I don't know!"

"I'm working on Booth," Caroline confided in her. "Not that a person ever knows what's going to happen next with those two."

"Tell me about it!"

"I am on your side, Cherie, believe me," the older woman shook her head. "No one around here gives me half as much as what you lot get me on a bad day and you know how much sloppy forensics make me grumpy."

Cam's phone beeped, informing her that Hodgins had something for them back at the lab and she looked up at Caroline, "Wanna tag along?"

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

They'd already checked in on three places that could match the industrial factory they were looking for and there was still a good chunk of the list left to cover.

"You holding up okay over there, Bones?" Booth asked stealing a side glance at her to make sure she wasn't overdoing it.

"Yes," she smiled at him, "I actually find this reassuring."

"What, the fact that we haven't found anything yet?" he wasn't exactly sure where she was going with this.

"No," she shook her head, another small smile appearing. "You and I, driving around like this. Going to check out a possible crime scene." She looked him up and down with a teasing glint in her eye, "You, refusing to wear your seat belt-"

"Hey," he shook his head to one side, "when the going gets rough I'm not wasting valuable time trying to release a seat belt catch."

"Man of action," she nodded in understanding, then crinkled her nose. "Though not the best of examples for our child."

"You're kidding?" he asked, then realized, "You're not kidding. Look, our kid's not even gonna notice. I don't think Parker even notices."

She made a sound in her throat and shook her head, "He asked me about it the last time he visited. Apparently, they were talking about seat belt safety in school."

"And he didn't ask me?" Booth sounded hurt.

"You were asleep at the time," she assured him, "I highly doubt he was avoiding you."

"Did you tell him I'm a man of action?" he wanted to know. "I mean, I've got reflexes like a jungle cat." He pantomimed a claw tearing through the air as he roared and gnashed his teeth.

She smirked at the sight, "I did not. But if I were going to refer to your lightning-fast reflexes I would tell him you were like a flea."

"A flea?" it was his turn to wrinkle his nose. "You'd tell my kid – or our kid – I was like a flea?"

"It's more accurate," she shrugged. "You know I believe in being accurate and truthful with children, Booth."

"Yeah, I know," his lip quirked. "Now, how's about you be truthful with me?"

"As to whether or not you could actually posses lightning-fast reflexes?" she was confused.

He gave her a sidelong look, "How about we start with whether or not we're going to stay here after the case? Parker was asking _me_ about that when I took him home and Caroline's chomping at the bit to know too. Are we gonna put the old team back together?"

A slow, curving smile lit up her face, giving him the first glimmer of hope since they'd been back. She shared that she'd dreamed about doing just that the night before they'd left the beach house. After hemming and hawing and bickering about anthropological lynchpins – or something to that effect – she finally got around to the truth. A part of her wanted to pursue another scholarly project since the Maluku one had been a bust. But she also wanted to do what was right for the good of the team, and what she knew Booth wanted. With that in mind, she was choosing to put aside her own selfish desires and stay.

"Great," Booth's grin couldn't have been wider. "Now all you have to do is get Hodgins and Angela back on board, get the Jeffersonian to give us our lab back, and track down all of your squinterns."

"That's a long list of very difficult tasks," she looked down at her lap, then over at her partner, wondering what she'd just agreed to.

"Well," he said smugly, "it's not so easy being the 'lynchpin' is it?"

"Hmm," she considered the thought seriously. "That's true."

The smirk tumbled from his face but on the inside he smiled to himself: they were back.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

Neither of the partners found any joy making the young woman and her grandfather relive her son's death. Brennan wished she had the right words to say to convey the sadness she felt for them, but she didn't, and even Booth's kind words sounded hollow in her ears. The anthropologist knew that even now, she would be devastated were she to miscarry, and she could only imagine the pain this mother felt losing a son after three years.

Even though she couldn't drink, it still felt good to go out with Cam and Booth that night to the Founding Fathers and reflect on the case. She hoped Booth was right and that Caroline wouldn't charge the pair, who were already living under a heavy burden of grief and guilt. They had suffered enough.

Booth was affected by the case too. After making a mental note to triple-check whatever screws came with the crib he and Brennan would purchase for their baby, he mused out loud about why they solved the kind of cases they did. Both women fixed him with a look that said he should know better, but he still couldn't get little Logan Bartlett's face out of his head.

That night he didn't get any sleep either, but this time Brennan burned the midnight oil with him. They sifted through every shred of evidence that had been compiled in the missing persons case, and watched the video interviews Booth had done of the father at the Hoover at the beginning of their investigation. Booth still didn't get murderer off of the guy, but his gut was screaming that the answer was right in front of them and he was missing it.

"Did you sleep at all?" Brennan yawned sleepily the next morning as she started the coffee maker.

"A little," he shrugged, figuring the five minutes he'd dozed off for before her alarm woke him should count for something. "Doesn't matter, though, I think I'm onto this guy."

After a quick breakfast and a hurried shower to wake him up, they were out the door and on their way. He picked up Logan's mother at the Hoover and they made the trip to Delaware in relative silence. All three were hoping the same thing and the instant Brennan pointed to the young boy on the playground Booth knew his gut had been right.

It felt good to run across the grass and tackle the SOB to the ground with whatever kind of reflexes Brennan wanted to call them. Booth could also see the tears in her eyes as she witnessed the happy reunion of boy and mother, and he threw her a thumbs up.

Much later the couple sat, Caroline between them, and listened as they were given a good old-fashioned lecture about the error of their ways as far as letting the team fall apart. Booth wasn't sure what went on while he answered Cam's call and he wasn't sure he wanted to, but both prosecutor and anthropologist seemed happy so he figured he wouldn't pursue it. It just felt good to be back.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

The key slid in the lock and clicked, freeing the doors to move smoothly apart for the small wave of people that entered the room. Cam thanked Brennan, who passed the praise off to Booth, who tried in vain to make the argument that he was the lynchpin until Brennan wrapped her arm around his to quiet him. It was clear Cam was deeply moved by the sacrifices they'd all made to come back, save her job, and re-form the team, though once the lights came on revealing the large mastodon exhibit in the middle of what used to be the forensic platform, all of a sudden they no longer needed to stay for any length of time.

"Did you see how happy Hodgins was to be back at work?" Brennan asked, eyes wide with excitement and satisfaction. "I am definitely doing the right thing."

"Okay," he chuckled, "I think there's a little bit more going on there, Bones."

She was reminded of Angela's news and decided her friend had finally shared that information with her husband. The couple moved closer to the platform until they were right in front of it.

Booth stood behind his fiancee, arms wrapped around her, awed by the sight, "Wow! That thing is really, _really_ huge!"

"It's a lot to work around," Brennan agreed, her eyes falling instead to where his hands covered her abdomen.

"We've worked around bigger," he whispered in her ear, then winked when she looked up at him. "Metaphorically speaking."

She met his eyes with a smile and both of their eyes trailed down as she nodded, "Metaphorically."

They stood for a long moment, entwined in one another's arms as they reflected on all that had led them here and all that was yet to come.

Booth felt her relax into him and he laid a soft kiss in her hair, "Welcome home, Bones."

She swiveled in his arms, pressed a light kiss on his lips and murmured against them, "Welcome home, Booth."


	5. Absence Makes the Heart Grow Boothy

Chapter 5: Absence Makes the Heart Grow Boothy

It took a full week with crews working around the clock to remove the exhibit – mastodon and all – out of the lab. For the most part, Booth spent that time at the Hoover, setting up his office, catching up on paperwork, and touching base with the guys in his department. But he kept close tabs on the squints and chuckled every time Brennan called him to let him know what warpath she was on that day.

Aside from the trips she took from time to time, the bulk of her career had been spent pouring herself into the Jeffersonian lab and to have that stripped away from the scientists who _had _remained was taken as a personal affront. The higher-ups knew that Brennan and her core team would be returning in a year's time. They had a competent forensic anthropologist in Clark, whom they could've hired in the interim, and who was more than qualified to take Brennan's grad students for that time.

With pregnancy hormones raging, she systematically ripped into every person who'd had a hand in taking the lab away from Cam, not even sparing Hodgins, who she claimed should've kept better track of where the Cantilever group's money was being spent. She not only got the lab restoration expedited, but also managed to get the Jeffersonian to help cover the cost to locate and bring back the scattered squinterns.

When she'd finished there, she came over to the Hoover and ripped Hacker a new one for allowing the relationship between the FBI and the Jeffersonian to deteriorate so rapidly. Booth had gotten a front row seat for that show, most of which he spent hiding behind his coffee cup to keep himself from laughing at his boss. Hacker pointed out that it wasn't every FBI agent who could work so well with the scientists and she agreed, but pointed out that Perotta had done so in the past and should have been assigned as Booth's replacement.

"How could they not comprehend that our hiatus was only temporary?" she ranted in the privacy of his apartment that Thursday night. "That we would return to our jobs once our other commitments were fulfilled?"

Knowing it was best not to stop her when she was on a roll he merely shrugged sympathetically and continued helping her with the dishes.

"My publisher wants me to do a few book signings next week," she informed him abruptly, looking up to gauge his reaction.

"How long would you be gone?" he wanted to know.

"Five days," came the answer. "I need to give my answer by Saturday, but I told my publicist that you and I would need to discuss it first."

"I think it's a great idea," he smiled, wiping his hands on a towel as they left the kitchen.

"You do?"

He nodded, "Sure. Look, you've been pretty stressed this last week, Bones. A mini trip would probably do you wonders _and_ get your publisher off your back for a while."

"But what if we get a case?" she was concerned now, even though she didn't see any harm in going.

"I'll call you and work with Clark until you can make your way back," he replied easily, putting his arm around her. "He's back in town now, right?"

She nodded, agreeing with his logic and surprised he wasn't insisting he go along. They spent the next half-hour going over the specifics and afterward spent the remainder of the night watching old repeats of _Scarecrow and Mrs. King_ on TV.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"So, have you talked with Dr. B lately?" Hodgins asked as he, Cam, and Booth picked their way through the woods with the park ranger.

"Oh yeah," he nodded with a small smile. "I talked to her last night. She's in New England, doing a reading for some of the boys in Groton before they head over to Afghanistan."

Hodgins smiled then spotted a nest of some bug with a long, Latin name Booth had never heard of.

"Do you understand what he's saying?" their guide asked.

"Just nod," Booth advised.

The ranger did, smoothly changing the topic to Afghanistan and his time in the service. Booth mentioned that he was in the Rangers, but felt bad when he found out about the guy's brother. He'd lost enough buddies over the years, he couldn't imagine if something had happened to Jared on top of that. Before the topic could get too heavy, they arrived at the cave.

"They're dead," Cam confirmed.

"That all you can give me?" Booth crossed his arms, ignoring Hodgins who was in seventh heaven with all the insect activity.

"You want more, you bring Clark out in the field," she shrugged.

"No, no, no," he shook his head. "You two and Bones are enough. You can't give me _anything_ more?"

"This one's male," she pointed to the one on her right. "That one's female."

"Plenty of maggots," Hodgins elbowed his way in and began taking samples. "Should make for a good challenge."

"They speed things up out here," the ranger put in.

"I'm seeing more fractures on the female," Cam observed. "I couldn't tell you from what, though."

Booth couldn't help but notice the positions of the body and made a comment. Where Brennan would've called him on romanticizing the whole thing, these companions nodded in agreement and Booth could've sworn he heard a small sigh escape Hodgins' lips. The bug man then proceeded to wax poetic about Romeo and Juliet, and for as much as Booth enjoyed not getting his theory shot down, he missed his partner's directness that kept them from veering too far off track. Cam eventually reined Hodgins back in and suggested they call in the forensics team to ship what they needed back to Clark at the Jeffersonian.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

"The forensics team says the remains should be at the lab in a couple hours," Booth remarked as he and Sweets shared lunch together at the diner.

Ever since they'd come back the kid had been trying to pin him down and ask questions about his and Brennan's relationship outside of work. Booth had been avoiding him to this point but the kid finally grew some stones and told Booth he needed to know what was going on so that he could report to Hacker that the two were capable of maintaining their partnership.

"Do you miss Dr. Brennan?" Sweets asked casually, dipping a fry in his ketchup.

Booth shot him a withering glare.

"Right, of course you do, she's been gone four days," he tried a smile to put Booth at ease.

"What," Booth went on the defensive. "is it some sort of crime for me to miss my fiancee?"

"No, not at all," the younger man said hurriedly. "Do you think she'll acclimate well once she is back to work?"

"Bones is the best in her field," Booth stated firmly. "Why wouldn't she be fine?"

Sweets gave a shrug and lifted an eyebrow, "Maybe because not so long ago she declared to all of us that she didn't want to be around crime, and death, and sadness anymore?"

"She took a break. Got some rest. We're solid now," Booth declared, making it clear that was as much as Sweets was going to get out of him.

Sweets nodded, "Let me know if I can do anything."

Booth's gaze suddenly intensified, "Look, Bones didn't leave me again, okay? She has responsibilities as a writer and I just got reinstated, so don't go making problems where there are none. I'm fine, she's fine, Parker's fine, and the baby's fine. So you can go back and tell my bosses that we're 110% solid."

"I'm sorry I questioned you," Sweets ducked his head, sincere.

When he lifted it back up, he realized Booth wasn't looking at him anyway. In fact, Booth was rising from his seat, a wide grin spreading across his face as he strode quickly to the front of the diner.

"Bones! Hey," she turned toward him at the sound, her grin mirroring his, "what are you doing here, I thought you wouldn't be home 'til tomorrow?"

"This morning's reading was my last," she shrugged. "I saw no further reason to stay. Are you surprised?"

He nodded briefly before capturing her face in his hands and kissing her full on the lips; a gesture she returned with equal enthusiasm. His hands dropped to her waist as hers encircled his neck, pulling him closer and leaving them teetering on the edge of public decency.

Sweets cleared his throat beside them, fairly sure he needed to stop them before it got graphic, "Welcome home, Dr. Brennan."

When they pulled apart, Brennan thanked him as if nothing had happened, while Booth's cheeks tinged pink.

"Well, Sweets, we'd love to hang out and chat but we need to go," he said hurriedly, placing his hand at the small of Brennan's back as he ushered her out.

"Why do we need to go?" she looked concerned.

He waited until they were safely out of the diner before responding with a sly smile, "Because Sweets would've kept us there all day and I need to get back to work soon."

"Ah," her smile was conspiratorial, "subterfuge. Excellent. I can accompany you back to the Hoover if you'd like. I stopped by your apartment to drop off my things before I came."

"Great!" he slung an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close as they moved up the sidewalk toward the Hoover. "Tell me about your trip!"

That's exactly what she did for the next ten minutes and he couldn't help but grin when she told him about all the strings she'd pulled to come home early. Her childlike glee at being able to surprise him was infectious and their laughter caused more than a few heads to turn as they walked through the bullpen back to his office. Though they weren't still touching – not even holding hands – it was clear to all that their relationship had changed since they'd gone away.

Much as he wanted to close the blinds and the door and kiss her senseless, Brennan was equally eager to dive into the case and he couldn't deny her curiosity. That was probably for the best when mid-way through Gary Nesbitt, the ranger from the park, came by to drop off a file.

"That man seems very upset by the death of his brother," Brennan noted when Nesbitt left.

Booth was still scanning the file but nodded, "Something like that doesn't just go away overnight."

"Is that why you offered him a job?" she wondered.

"Not a job," Booth shook his head, "just a shot at it. The big stuff's up to him."

"It was still a kind gesture," she smiled. "Are you going to question Winston Hinkle?"

"Couldn't hurt to drop in on him," he smiled. "You coming?"

"I need to go back to the lab," she frowned. "The remains should be there by now."

"No problem," he smiled easily, a part of him relieved that he wouldn't have to worry about a crazy man in the woods possibly attacking her. "I'll grab Sweets later to see if this guy is still loony toons."

The computer pinged with an incoming video chat and after they'd all welcomed Brennan back, Angela got around to letting them in on the female victim's ID, along with the very familiar-looking face she'd come up with for the male. Brennan assured them she would be right over and they signed off.

"Hmm," Booth said, reading the online file Angela had sent over on the woman while Brennan peered over his shoulder. "I think I'm gonna shelve the crazy guy for a bit and see if I can get Hilary Fuller's boss down here."

"You think he was involved in her murder?" she wasn't sure how he'd made that intuitive leap.

"I won't know that until I talk to him but I'm keeping my options open," he smiled up at her.

They were gravitating closer and closer, the computer screen forgotten, and his lips grazed hers ever-so-lightly before he pulled back with a smile, "I'm glad you're home."

"As am I," her warm smile made him feel fuzzy on the inside and he felt the absence when she pulled away and stood to leave. "I need to go," she was apologetic.

"Go on," he urged with a wink as he stood as well. "Play with your bones and get us a lead. I'll see you and Bean later."

The mention of their baby brought another tender smile to her face and she reached out for an impulsive hug before leaving. Not more than twenty minutes later, Sweets stopped him, and Booth once again brushed off the kid's curiosity, reminding Sweets he had his own relationship problems to deal with. Leaving him with a smirk, Booth couldn't help but feeling that everything was finally going his way and that he was the luckiest guy on the face of the earth.


	6. Bones Behaving Badly

**Oldest kiddo got sick but now that she's back on track let's get this train rolling again!**

**Gum :)**

* * *

Chapter 6: Bones Behaving Badly

When the lead on Hilary's boss went cold, they turned their attention back to Hinkle; especially when the date he was released matched up with Hodgins' confirmed time of death. It was getting late, though, and Hinkle lived way back in the woods according to his file so Booth suggested they call it quits for the night. Brennan was all too happy to oblige as she'd been either on the road or on her feet all day and was in need of some rest.

"You alright, Bones?" he asked as he served her a steaming mug of soup and set the plateful of bread down on his coffee table.

She nodded, but winced, shifting further back into the couch. He could see the discomfort on her face but she said nothing, concentrating on the soup. Gingerly, she lifted a spoonful to her mouth, then cursed softly when it burnt her.

"Here," Booth set his own mug down and reached across to grab hers. "Are you sure everything's alright?"

Hands free of the mug, she rubbed her stomach on the right side, "My ligaments are quite sore from the uterine expansion. It's quite normal at the fifteen week gestational mark," she assured him quickly, "though highly unpleasant."

"Our little Bean is growing!" he couldn't keep the excitement and wonder from his voice. "What are this week's stats?"

The shift in topic distracted her enough to get her mind off of the dull ache as she launched into the update. Once she was relaxed enough, Booth himself relaxed, letting his guard down and just enjoying the one-on-one time. They sipped cautiously at their soup as she spoke and every so often he'd interject a question or too, loving the enthusiastic smile it brought to her face. She talked about the bones that were beginning to harden and he made a joke, earning himself a small shove as she continued on.

"Isn't that fascinating?" she asked a few minutes later, and even though he wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, he nodded.

Because it was fascinating - and thrilling - that he was having this kind of talk, with this woman, in his living room, with her carrying their baby. The fact that they were in a stable relationship did wonders for him too. By this time in Becca's pregnancy, things had grown strained and stressed between them and it hadn't been long afterward that she'd packed her stuff and left. Knowing he would be able to offer this baby the loving family environment he ached to give Parker meant the world to him.

"We should go to the courthouse tomorrow," he said impulsively.

She tilted her head for a moment as if trying to follow his line of reasoning, then understanding dawned, "The waiting period is three days."

"I'm okay with that," he scooted over, covering her hands with his.

"Even civil ceremonies require scheduling a date two to three weeks in advance," she told him hesitantly.

"Come on," he shook his head and put on his best charm smile, "we know enough lawyers and judges to get around that. I mean," he elbowed her teasingly, "you already said 'yes' so this is just making it official."

She said nothing and her face became unreadable as a cold knot of dread settled in his stomach, "Unless you don't want to."

"Why wouldn't I?" her head shot up, eyes piercing into him.

"You just," he shrugged his shoulders wishing he'd never brought it up in the first place. "We still haven't set a date, that's all, and any time I bring it up you either change the subject or your nose gets all crinkled and your forehead does that thing you do when you do your deep thinking but haven't decided if you like the idea or not."

"I _want_ to marry you, Booth," she insisted perhaps a tad too strongly, then sighed, squeezing his hand. "I do. But there are things-"

"What things?" he jumped in as if coming to her defense. "Tell me so we can figure them out together."

She shook her head, "As appealing as it sounds it's not that simple. There are things – concepts – I'm faced with that I can't articulate in my own mind, let alone trying to explain them to you, Booth." Blue-gray eyes met brown as she tried to relay without words how she was feeling.

"Hey," his voice softened. "Okay. I'll back off."

"I don't need space," she gripped his hand tightly, not allowing him to stand. "Just time."

"Mmm," he leaned in closer to her. "I'm good with having no space between us."

It was the right thing to say and she switched gears to a sultry tone effortlessly, arching one perfect eyebrow, "Indeed, and what-"

His lips covered hers, swallowing the rest of her question with a sweep of his tongue. She shifted into his lap and for a full five minutes more grunts and groans were uttered than words. Unlike the previous night, there was no little boy in the next room to be concerned with and clothes were abandoned without thought.

She whispered something very naughty in his ear and he growled, shucking the last of his clothes as he went for hers. Without warning she leapt to her feet, a playful gleam in her eyes and spent the next few minutes dancing just out of his reach as she moved through the apartment. With a laugh that was the purest thing he'd ever heard she allowed him to catch her in his arms and do exactly the thing she'd suggested to both their satisfactions.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

They were sitting at the Founding Fathers the next day for lunch after Booth was back from his morning jaunt through the forest with Sweets to find Hinkle when a familiar face came through the door.

"Hank!" Booth called to his old Army buddy with a wave.

Hank Lutrell smiled widely and wheeled himself over to their table, accepting the invitation Brennan extended to stay and eat with them. The two struck up an easy conversation, but far from feeling left out, Booth was sitting back with contentment and watching. His lips quirked slightly when Hank commented about their partnership and Brennan began rattling off her accomplishments without pretense. The judge merely laughed, though, giving an abridged version of his own accomplishments, then asked how they'd met.

The partners took turns explaining their first case together and how the relationship had grown from there.

"So what's new?" Hank wanted to know.

The partners exchanged a look and Brennan tilted her head the just slightest bit in Booth's direction, prompting him to smile and announce proudly, "Bones is pregnant. Due in March."

Hank offered him a firm handshake that morphed into a back-slapping guy hug, then motioned Brennan over for her own hug. The judge's and they quickly said their goodbyes, promising to catch up later.

They hadn't even gotten in the SUV when Hodgins called with new information. Cutting through the techno-babble and steering the bug man back on topic when he strayed, Booth listened, all the while trying to piece the clues together in his head. The squints still didn't have a handle on cause of death and so far all the leads Booth had followed had dried up on him.

"You up for a walk in the park?" questioned Booth once Hodgins hung up.

She nodded, oblivious to his play on words, "It would be a good opportunity for me to revisit the crime scene as well."

Booth put in a call to the park, who promised to send Nesbitt out to take them up to the cabin, and they were off. It was a decent-sized place, sparse, but he could get why couples would come out here to get away from it all. He'd just about given up on finding anything when he noticed that the date on one of the carvings matched the day the couple had died. The initials matched Hilary Fuller's and now they had their first lead as to who the Clooney look-alike might be.

They decided it would be best if they split up; Brennan to the lab and Booth to the Hoover to see if anyone Hilary worked with had the initials "FV."

"Got anything?" Booth asked without preamble a few hours later when she called. "Because I've got nothing on my end."

"The victim was a migrant worker," she was pleased to inform him, "most likely from Guatemala. Cam found high levels of nicotine in his skin, suggesting a tobacco farm. Are there any names you've come across that are Hispanic in origin?"

They hadn't from what he'd remembered, but then again the words were starting to blur together after staring at them for so long so he couldn't be sure. He suggested they grab Sweets and meet at the diner, which appealed to Brennan who was hungry again anyway. Ten minutes later they were on either side of the kid, who was waving his grilled cheese sandwich around and wondering how people in two totally different social circles could've hooked up.

For himself, Booth didn't see the big deal. Sure they were worlds apart but sometimes love was funny like that and things happened. He pointed out that he and Bones worked just fine together even though she may way more money than he did and while she agreed with him, she pointed out that their crime-solving abilities were what brought them together and helped them find points of commonality.

Cam's call interrupted them just as Sweets was about to turn his shrink ray on them and as soon as Brennan laid out what they'd discovered about the bone density, he knew exactly where the couple had met and why they'd been drawn to one another. Sure enough, the AA connection was key and they finally had a name for both victims, even if they still had no idea who the killer was. Booth declared that enough work for one day and they headed home.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

For the second morning in a row, Booth was interrogating a suspect while Brennan stayed in the lab. He wasn't sure if the victim's girlfriend had done anything, but she was mouthy and he wasn't in the mood so he played tough with her. In the end, she clammed up and he was back to square one. On a hunch, though, he got a warrant for the tires on her car and had them sent over to Hodgins for analysis.

"Tread lightly," Angela called to Booth as he strode through the lab for an update on how the forensic angle was going and he stopped in his tracks. "She chewed Clark up and spat him out earlier for no reason."

More than likely it had to do with her tossing and turning all night for reasons she refused to share with him at breakfast, but he nodded his thanks for the heads up.

"Oh good," Cam looked relieved to see him, dragging him bodily into her office before he could stop her, "you're here."

"I heard Bones was behaving badly," he smirked at the irritation on her face.

"Yeah, what's going on with that?" she asked point blank.

He shrugged, "The mood swings come and go for no reason, Cam. Do you want me to talk to her?"

Cam gave a long, loud sigh, then shook her head, "No. She apologized in her own way and no harm was done. I'm just not used to seeing her so-" she fumbled for words.

"Emotional?" Booth asked and Cam nodded. "Yeah, it threw me for a loop the first couple of times too, but she's getting better."

"Getting better at what?" the topic of conversation herself appeared at the door.

"At dealing with my messy apartment," he said quickly and with a smile. "Not every woman would do that."

"You are quite slovenly at times," Brennan agreed way too quickly, then looked at Cam. "Was he the same when you lived with him?"

"Oh, hey, look at the time," he jumped in, thinking that the two of them comparing notes could not be a good thing for him. "You ready for lunch, Bones?"

She was and he could tell from the pitch in her voice that she was still majorly stressed as they got in the SUV and started driving. None of the places to eat he suggested appealed to her, leaving him clueless as to where to go.

"Why are we here?" she asked when he pulled up to his building.

"Because when you don't know what to eat there's no place like home," he quipped.

"This is your home," she argued as the climbed out of the car.

"You sleep here and your tofu crap is in my fridge," he winked, trying to lighten the mood.

She was still grumbling when they walked through the doorway and even after he'd poured water for them each and started puttering around the kitchen.

"Are you listening to me?" she accused, shooting a glare that could melt steel.

She didn't ease up as he set down the sandwich fixings and began putting them away before he moved toward her.

"Booth, what are you-"

Her question was truncated when he gave her something else to do with her mouth and the diversion worked for the most part.

"What are you doing?" she asked again, this time much softer.

"Shh," he soothed, rubbing her arms before relieving her of her glass. Capturing her hand he led her away from the kitchen and toward the bedroom.

"I don't need a nap," she protested.

"Good," he smirked, "'cause we're not napping."

"I need to go back to work," she protested.

"You need to chill out," he smiled, pulling her down to sit on the bed between his legs as he began massaging her shoulders.

"Chill out?" she repeated.

"Mmm hmm," he murmured in her ear. "So that you don't make any more squinterns cry."

She shook her head, somewhat distracted as he planted open mouth kisses down the column of her neck, "Clark didn't cry."

Her distraction increased exponentially as he turned her around and gently undid the buttons on her blouse. Both eyebrows shot up to her hairline but she didn't stop him and eventually reached out and began returning the favor. By the time she relieved him of his cocky belt buckle he could see the tension in her shoulders fading and by the time he rolled her underneath of him she was as pliant as could be.

Slowly, tenderly, he began the work of relaxing the rest of her too.


	7. A Shore Thing

Chapter 7: A Shore Thing

"So you're in a good mood now," Angela waggled her eyebrows suggestively as she entered Brennan's office.

"We solved the case," her friend smiled. "And while murder is never something to be made light of, I do find I'm pleased with how well our team worked together."

"Yeah," the artist nodded, then leaned forward and lowered her voice. "So how'd he do it?"

"How did who do what?" Brennan tilted her head, confused.

"Booth," Angela said as if that should be obvious. "We all know you were in a snit before he got here so what gives?"

"I was not-"

Angela cut her off, "Sweetie, you were wound tighter than a virgin on Spring Break and you scared poor Clark half to death. Then Booth comes in, whisks you off for an hour or so and you've been relaxed ever since. That kind of thing," a sultry grin spread across her face, "doesn't happen just by eating lunch. Now spill."

"By the implication in your tone, I presume you already know the answer to your question," Brennan pretended to turn back to her computer.

"Aw, you guys had your first nooner," the artist sounded excited and happy for her friend.

"It was one o'clock," Brennan corrected her.

Angela waved her off, "Doesn't matter. Still qualifies. This is great!"

"We've had sex in the afternoon before, Ange," Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Not during work hours," she shook her head. "Look, Bren, it's perfectly natural around here to need to bleed off a little stress now and again and believe me we've all been waiting for you two to get your act together so you could do just that. Just let me know if you want a heads up on where all of the security-cameras aren't. Hodgins has it all mapped out."

Brennan chuckled softly, shaking her head, "I can assure you, Angela, that Booth and I will not be having sex _anywhere_ in the Jeffersonian!"

There was a muffled spluttering sound and the two women turned to find a certain FBI agent having difficulty swallowing his coffee.

"Hey, Studly," Angela grinned as she stood to leave. "You two kids have a good weekend."

Booth looked back and forth between the artist and Brennan, then decided he didn't want to know, "Ready to go, Bones?"

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

It was a good weekend. Friday night Booth celebrated solving the case by taking her out for a night on the town. They talked about how good it felt to be working together again and how much they'd both missed that since leaving all those months ago. Saturday, however, she had to go back to her place and catch up on laundry and chores. Max stopped by to pick up some of his stuff that he'd left and the two ended up staying awake into the wee hours of the morning talking again. The next morning she slept in, but was more than pleased when Booth stopped by to wake her up after Mass.

What neither of them missed from their time off the job was the volumes of paperwork they had to fill out. This task consumed most of Sunday afternoon and early Sunday evening in order for Booth to be able to turn in to Caroline first thing Monday morning. They headed back to his place after a late dinner where he spent the rest of the night watching the Flyers destroy the Caps while she leafed through the latest edition of _Lapham's Quarterly_.

It was Brennan's cell phone that roused them at three in the morning and Booth was halfway to kissing a path up her calf when his own sounded.

"How soon do you think they'll need us?" he asked her when they'd both hung up, going back to the task he'd started before.

She smiled as his whisper-soft kisses brushed her leg but shook her head, "We should get going. Marine wildlife can desiccate remains swiftly."

"Cam will be there," he said lazily as he reached her thigh.

"Cam isn't a forensic anthropologist," she pointed out, though keeping her thoughts from going in a whole new direction was growing increasingly difficult. "And I need to stop at my apartment for my field kit."

"I've got your spare in the SUV," he brushed aside her concern along with the light sheet that blocked his access to her belly, "and Bean says a few minutes more in bed won't hurt anyone."

"I'm hungry," she countered, kissing him chastely on the forehead before rising and heading for the bathroom. "And it's never _just_ a few minutes."

Booth groaned as she moved out of the room, sprawling flat on his back. Eventually, when he realized she was serious, he got up and began getting ready for the day. Grousing that it wasn't fair she got to go to the crime scene in sweats and a comfortable t-shirt underneath her jumpsuit, he got dressed and was only mildly consoled when she told him she appreciated how the cut of his suit accentuated the breadth of his shoulders.

"Your tie is boring," she commented casually, searching for her gumboots among a pile of her things.

Finding the boots, she set them by the bed, then walked over to Booth and slipped the staid black tie from around his neck, replacing it with a much bolder one covered in beach balls. He did his best to hide a smile, loving how possessive of him she'd become over the last half year. They'd been invading each other's personal space for the past five and a half years, but this new facet to their relationship only heightened the intimacy of even the smallest touches between them.

"Move in with me," he breathed, taking full advantage of her lips being so close to his.

It was brief, but sweet and as they separated she whispered into his mouth, "Okay."

His eyes quickly sought hers out, confirming he wasn't just hearing things and lighting up when she nodded in reply. With a small whoop he picked her up and twirled her around, kissing her soundly once more before finally setting her down. It was a happy, satisfied duo that left the apartment hand-in-hand and set off for the Jersey shore.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"Wouldn't it be great to wake up to this every morning, Bones?" gushed Booth as they trekked through the sand to where Cam waited for them.

By this time he could tell she had her game face on, though, and was less than surprised when her answer was more squinty in nature. He was once again reminded why he didn't wear expensive shoes to crime scenes any more as half the sand in the Jersey shore hitched a ride by the time he made it to the body. A body that was putrid and made him want to go grab a fourth cup of coffee just to escape the smell.

Fortunately the ID didn't take long at all and due to the rabid maggots that were jumping all over the place and the skin that kept sloughing off the bones, they got the body out and loaded up as soon as possible. He was impressed Brennan didn't get nauseous at the scene, but couldn't blame her falling asleep minutes after he started the car. He probably would've dropped her off at home had she not woken up just inside the city limits and all but demanded him he drop her off at the Jeffersonian, pointing out she had a change of clothes there.

"So how was your weekend?" Angela asked when Brennan came to see if she'd found any pertinent information in the video clips she was scouring.

"It was enjoyable as you wished it to be," a quiet smile crept up one side of the anthropologist's lips. "Booth asked me to move in with him."

Angela set down her keypad and embraced her friend warmly, the pulled back, "Wait. You did say 'yes' didn't you?"

Brennan nodded and was immediately engulfed in another hug before Angela advised, "You should get him something for your new place."

"As far as I know, we aren't relocating," Brennan frowned. "To be truthful I'm not sure which one of us will be shifting residences."

Angela waved a hand, "Don't worry about that. The important thing is you two are finally starting your lives together here in DC and that's something to celebrate. Can you think of anything homey Booth might like?"

"A phone," grinned Brennan without hesitation.

The artist winced, "I was thinking more romantic than practical, Bren."

Brennan shook her head, launching into a detailed reasoning as to why Booth would enjoy receiving a rotary phone. Angela's shoulders sagged with relief as it became clear her friend knew exactly what the keys to Booth's heart were. Brennan's face was alight with pure adoration for him and Angela couldn't be happier for her friend.

"Sounds like you're serious about this moving in thing," she smiled widely.

Brennan's face became serious all of a sudden, "I wouldn't have agreed to marry him or move in with him if I weren't serious." Her voice softened, "Booth has given himself completely to me in a way that no other man has. It would hurt him greatly if I weren't as invested in the relationship as he is."

There was a story there. One Angela knew she hadn't heard before, but she didn't press her friend for info on it right away and instead picked up her keypad and turned their attention back on the case. To say she was bemused as Brennan became very animated talking about the "Guido tribe" was an understatement, but after a few attempts at gently correcting Brennan, she just let her be.

"Bones around?" Booth asked, poking his head into Angela's office about an hour later.

"She should be," Angela grinned. "She's really looking forward to getting to study this tribe up close."

Booth chuckled, "Yeah, she started watching it when we were down in North Carolina. Filled up the Net Flix queue 'til she'd caught up."

"And you didn't tell her it wasn't real?" the artist guffawed.

"I tried but she told me they wouldn't call it 'reality TV' if it wasn't real and insisted it was a documentary," he shrugged. "What else was I supposed to do."

"I so want to be a fly on the wall when you guys get down there," Angela shook her head with a laugh. "I haven't seen her this excited since Anok."

From behind Booth, Brennan's voice called loud and clear, telling him they needed to leave right away. Booth assured her he was coming, winked at Angela and gave her a tiny wave, then hurried off after his partner. Angela's smile would've lasted longer if the smell from the forensic platform hadn't wafted down to her right then, prompting her to close her office door and go in search of some saltines.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"We should've stayed in New Jersey this morning," Brennan commented as they drove.

"So that we could track down these dumb ass kids faster?"

"That and it would save tremendously on the Bureau's fuel costs," she nodded. "Regardless, I'm very much looking forward to examining this tribe up close."

They bantered back and forth about the Guidos and their questionable intelligence levels but it wasn't until they were on the boardwalk Booth finally got up the courage to ask what he'd been dying to know all morning, "So you're really going to move in?"

"Of course," she nodded sincerely. "And while I realize that such a proposal is usually done with more ceremony, I don't feel cheated in the least."

"Good to know," he gave a rueful grin. "Mind if I ask why I haven't gotten some anthropological mumbo-jumbo on this? Not that I'm complaining; just curious."

"We're engaged," she shrugged looking at him as if he should know better. "Logic suggests that cohabitation would follow when we returned to DC. Not to mention we lived together for a little over six months prior to our return. To be honest, I was surprised it took you this long to broach the subject."

Booth rubbed the back of his neck, feeling slightly embarrassed for thinking she'd be against the idea. The truth was, he'd tossed and turned all Saturday night without her there and knowing that she was only a short drive away. Having his little family under one roof was something that meant a lot to him.

His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his phone and he was pleasantly surprised to hear Pops on the other end. To his relief, the elder Booth wasn't calling to tell him he'd run away from the nursing home again, but just to check in and invite his grandson down to play dominoes. Guilt twisted in Booth's gut, knowing he hadn't made the time for Pops like he had in the past.

Before he knew what was happening, Brennan had taken the phone from him and was chattering away with Pops, assuring him that once this case was closed, they would come down for the evening. That must've mollified him, because by the time Booth got the phone back Pops was in high spirits and full of all sorts of plans, and signed off Booth got the phone back Pops was in high spirits and full of all sorts of plans, and signed off by wishing they would wrap the case quickly.

Booth hung up and was about to tease his girl about being more in love with Pops than with him when she halted, pointing ahead as she exclaimed, "Eureka! A gathering of Guidos!"


	8. Crabs and Curves

**I haven't forgotten this one, I've just been super busy and was away all this weekend. Hopefully this is worth the wait!**

**Gum :)**

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Chapter 8: Crabs and Curves

Booth spent most of his time at the shore house hiding a bemused grin as Brennan served as the translator between them and the Guidos. The college frat house scene he understood because at least in the end most of those kids got an education but he felt no such camaraderie with the beach crowd. In fact the longer they were there the shorter his responses became as he quickly lost patience with the airhead approach to life. As soon as he could he wrapped up his on-site interviews, rounded up Brennan before anyone else could hit on her, and headed back to DC.

"You knew Sweets would offer to decipher those text messages for you," Brennan smiled slyly as the kid headed out the door with the huge volume tucked under his arm.

"Maybe," shrugged Booth, polishing off the fries. "You didn't hear him complaining did you?"

She shook her head and let it drop, mulling over all she needed to get done that afternoon. Booth mentioned he was thinking of going back to the shore and she suggested they wait until after dark and check out the club Li'l Frankie had invited her to, unable to resist yet another jab at the amount of gas they were wasting.

He told her there was no way they were taking her Prius when they might have to arrest someone and while the chances were very low they'd have to do that she didn't have much of a say.

"Don't you have work to do?" she batted his arm as they stood to leave.

"Nope," he winked. "Sweets is doing my homework, remember?"

"Right," she deadpanned. "So what are you going to do for the rest of the afternoon?"

He shrugged, holding the diner's door open for her to walk through, "I figured I'd fulfill my obligation as liaison and avail myself to the Jeffersonian."

"We're not spending the afternoon making out in my office or on Cleopatra's bed," she informed him, linking her arm with his as they walked toward the lab.

"Noted."

"And you can't bother me with any incessant tapping noises when you get bored," she continued.

"Uh huh."

"And-" she was cut off when his lips fell on hers for just the briefest of seconds before he pulled back and kept walking as if nothing had happened.

"I'll behave, Bones," he promised as they climbed the steps and entered the building. "You'll never know I'm here."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Of course she did know he was there but by and large he kept his promise to behave and leave her to her desk work. Two hours into it she looked up to find him fast asleep and snoring softly, his suit coat draped over him like a blanket. She paused long enough to get up and gently cover him with the real blanket that had been hanging on the back of the couch, dropping a light kiss on his forehead.

Booth awoke, still sleepy and somewhat bleary-eyed, to an empty office and for a moment considered ensconcing himself further in the warm cocoon he found himself wrapped in. The clock on the wall told him they needed to grab dinner and get on the road soon, though, so he slowly sat up, wondering where Bones had wandered off to.

She still wasn't back when he returned from splashing some water on his face in the guy's bathroom, so he headed out into the lab to search for her. Not surprisingly he found her amidst a knot of squints on the forensic platform, trying to wheedle some new scrap of information from the bones. Cam beat him to the punch, appearing from her office to order everyone home for the night so that she didn't have to pay overtime. There wasn't anything they could do tonight, anyway.

Fischer donned a ridiculous smile, stating it was a joy to leave work, though it wavered and by the time the guy was walking out the door he was cursing his life of loneliness and gloom. Undeterred by their co-worker's mercurial moods, Cam, Hodgins, Angela, and Brennan decided to head to the Founding Fathers before the partners headed back to New Jersey.

The forensic anthropologist eagerly regaled them with her observations from earlier in the day, raving about how accurate her favorite documentary had proven to be and what a fascinating culture it was to study. Hodgins was elbowed in the ribs on two sides for suggesting she write a paper on what she'd seen but mischief still danced in his blue eyes when he asked to tag along to the club. Booth glared lasers at him and Angela informed him he was going to be busy, even though Brennan said she saw nothing wrong with that idea.

Shortly after that, Booth announced it was time they got going. Their timing was perfect as they got to the club just as the crowd was starting to pick up. Once again in her element, Brennan got them into the place and began her anthropological jibber-jabber that Booth only half paid attention to. Mostly, he was keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might look like their guy and making sure that no one was going to jump them for some of the comments Brennan was making.

Tensions flared as a disturbance rang out and ice was flung across the room. Booth wound his way through the crowd and threw himself into to the melee. It felt good knocking the guy flat with one shot even if he didn't stay there but before he could knock him down again Brennan jumped in front of Booth and took over. It was all Booth could do to keep himself from laughing at the sight of the woman he loved looking more like a gorilla than a crab as she tried to "intimidate" Peppy into compliance. Her little baby bump just added to the absurdity.

Rather than question him right away, Booth let Peppy and Clinton – the guy who delivered the ice Peppy had just been flinging around – hash things out to give Booth a better idea of what was going on. He broke them up before things got ugly and sent the ice guy on his way. Peppy didn't know much of anything but he at least gave Booth the tip-off that Richie had a stalker.

"What do you think, Bones?" he asked on their way home later that night.

"The women in this culture seem quite violent, lending credence to Peppy's hypothesis that Richie's stalker could have killed him," she observed. "Perhaps Sweets' research will unearth a possible suspect."

Booth was counting on it.

"Who's apartment are we moving into?" the question took Booth by surprise.

"Well," he spluttered, "um. It doesn't matter to me. I mean, isn't your place bigger?"

"Slightly," her shoulders bobbed up and down. "The layout is different of course, but the square footage is similar. Of course we do have to option of getting our own place. Angela suggested that's what many couples do."

It was Booth's turn to shrug, "A place is just a place. It's the people who live there that matter. I'm good with living wherever you want to live, Bones."

A contemplative silence filled the cabin as they drove. Brennan found there were several more factors than she'd originally considered, not the least of which was the baby. Booth had no clue what was going on in her mind but was more than willing to wait it out and go along with whatever she chose. He was trying to decide the best place to put the plasma in her place when she spoke up.

"I want to move in with you," she declared.

A rueful grin played at the corners of his lips, "Yeah, I thought we covered that already, Bones."

"We established that we will be cohabiting," she pointed out the difference. "I'm stating my preference would be living in your apartment."

"Wow," the decision caught him off guard. "My place? Really?"

"Unless you'd prefer otherwise," she nodded, looking over at him for confirmation.

"No!" he said quickly, then reminded himself to breathe. "No. My place is great. Mind if I ask why?"

She didn't, but paused for a long moment before answering, "Logically, my apartment seems like the better choice. The amenities are more modern, not to mention the security features and adequate parking space."

"But?" he prompted, pulling into a space right by his building.

She let out a breath, looking up at the flickering neon light before meeting his eyes to respond, "My apartment lacks a certain intangible ambiance that yours possesses. It's not something that's quantifiable, yet I believe it's necessary."

She stopped, as if embarrassed or unsure how to complete the thought so he let it drop and walked her up and into the building. It was late and they were both exhausted to the point that Brennan sent Cam an email letting her know she would be later coming into the lab that morning. Booth grabbed a quick shower to rinse the club smell off of himself and smiled softly at the sight of Brennan reading in bed, dressed only in an old Army shirt of his she'd appropriated months ago.

It was only after he'd turned off the lights and curled up with her that she felt the courage to voice her previous insecurities, "I don't want to raise our child in an environment that will cause them the same social stumbling blocks I face. I don't want them to be perceived as cold or unfeeling."

"Hey," he pulled her close, "Bean will be just fine no matter where she grows up."

"Or he," Brennan couldn't help but interject.

"Right," Booth smiled. "Point is, whether it's here, across town, or at some other place we choose in the meantime, it doesn't matter. You, me, Parker, your dad, and the squints; we're the people in this baby's life who are gonna make the difference. And just the fact that you're being so careful in choosing where we live tells me this baby already has a warm, loving mommy looking out for their best interests."

"I like your apartment," she smiled sleepily, burrowing further into his embrace and relishing the feel of his hand on the swell of her abdomen. "Despite the clutter, it's very Boothy."

He smiled at the made up word and nuzzled up against her, whispering, "I can show you something else that's Boothy."

Her husky laugh filled the room as he welcomed her home with all the love and warmth he had to give.


	9. Hot and Bothered

**A/N: This is one of those instances where I never meant to go so long between updates but life intervened. I'm back now, though, so enjoy and let me know what you think!**

**Gum :)**

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Chapter 9: Hot and Bothered

"So he jumped in front of you and handed you his jacket?" Angela shook her head as she leaned back in her seat.

"And his gun," there was a small smile on the anthropologist's face as she recounted the tale. "He doesn't appreciate people shoving me. I warned the doorman not to threaten Booth because he can be very male."

"Male and hot," was Angela's response and across from her, Cam nodded in agreement.

"While I don't necessarily condone violence," hedged Brennan before letting a grin peek out, "I would have to agree."

"You know, I'm starting to feel jealous that I'm the only one in the room who hasn't seen Seeley Booth in action," Angela waggled her eyebrows.

It was the sight of the three women laughing boldly at this remark that Booth walked in on.

"The man of the house returns!" Angela raised her glass to beckon him. "Come on in. Pretend you live here."

There were giggles at the deer-in-the-headlights look that crossed Booth's face as he took in the sight and managed, "Hi. What's going on?"

Brennan tilted her head to one side, gesturing to the moving boxes that now came into sight as he closed the door, "Did you not mean it when you asked me to move in?"

"What? No! Of course I want you to move in," he said quickly, still wondering what the impromptu party was all about.

"We offered to help," Cam explained.

"Though there are still more of my things in storage," Brennan added. "Russ and my father brought over the heavier furniture."

He could see now that one of her bookshelves had been wedged in-between the TV and one of his own shelves full of trophies and the corner of her dresser peeked from the open bedroom door.

"We accomplished a lot," Brennan smiled proudly up at him. "Only a few things remain to be unpacked."

"That's it," Cam pointed to the short stack of boxes.

"Wow," Booth was impressed.

"I gave up my lease officially," Brennan spoke softly.

"So essentially, you are taking in a homeless woman, Booth," smirked Angela.

"I prefer the term 'settled,'" her friend answered, meeting Booth's eyes with a smile. "Or 'content.'"

"Who would've guessed, huh?" Angela gestured widely. "The two of us: content with settling down and giving up wine."

"You don't drink wine anymore?" Booth was convinced the women around him spoke in code on purpose.

"Um," A look that began with Angela went around the room until Brennan arched an eyebrow at her fiance and looked directly at her own mid-section, then Angela's.

"No," Booth felt a goofy grin spreading as understanding dawned.

"And he just got it," Cam smiled.

There were hugs and congratulations exchanged, though Angela swore Booth to the same secrecy the others were under. He promised, adding he thought she was going to be a great mom. As if that were some unannounced cue, Cam and Angela each made their excuses and said their goodbyes.

"Okay," Booth's hands were on his hips, his voice exposing the nervous excitement hiding under his wide grin once he and Brennan were alone. "Welcome home." She held his gaze but that didn't stop his from moving, spotting a bright red bow in his peripheral. "What's that?"

"Oh," Brennan was on her feet immediately, taking his hand and all but dragging him over to the small table where his cordless phone used to sit.

He could hear her babbling about the anthropological significance of sharing a domicile and something about the make and model of what lay beneath the bow, but he knew what it was and just how much it spoke of how well this woman knew and loved him.

"Wow," he said, picking up the receiver and hearing the dial tone, "it works!"

She nodded, a very pleased smile on her face and he thanked her with a kiss on the lips that was supposed to be light but only ended when the dial tone began blaring. He set the receiver down gently in its cradle and ran a finger over the rotary base.

Beside him, Brennan bounced up and down excitedly, a gleam coming to her eyes, "Let's try it out."

With a wave of her cell phone she scampered off to the bedroom and closed the door. It wasn't until a few seconds of silence passed that Booth realized she meant for him to call her and once again he picked up the receiver. With great relish and a hint of nostalgia, he dialed the familiar number.

"Did you enjoy hearing the 'tick, tick, tick?'" Brennan asked without prologue when she answered his call.

"Yeah," he nodded with a smile, his heart burgeoned with love for her. "Sounds really good too."

They talked for a little longer, then remembered they were in the same house and hung up so they could talk face to face. The remainder of the evening was uneventful as they shared a light dinner, found room for a few more of her things, and settled down in front of the TV. Booth flipped between sports channels while Brennan tapped away at her laptop. When the game he'd been keeping tabs on finished they worked together on their paperwork for the case until Brennan began to nod off. Assuring her that they could finish the rest the next day without fear of invoking the wrath of Caroline, Booth pried the paperwork from her and herded her into bed.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Brennan awoke the next morning in an empty bed only to discover it was ten o'clock and Booth had long since left for the Hoover. Apparently, he'd been called in to consult on a task force and he hadn't wanted to wake her. While the bouts of somnolence she'd experienced in her first trimester were waning, she still found herself requiring more sleep than she had before. No doubt all of the walking she and Booth had done, along with supervising the move, were factors as well.

"Dr. Brennan," Cam tried to hide her surprise as the anthropologist strode through the sliding doors. "Good morning."

"I apologize for my tardiness," was all Brennan said as she threaded her way through the lab and back to her office.

She busied herself at once behind her desk, finishing the rest of the paperwork from the previous night and booting up her computer to get caught up on the day's correspondence. A soft rap sounded at her door and she waved the person in without looking up.

"Dr. Brennan," Cam spoke softly enough not to startle her, "I believe we may've had a misunderstanding."

"Excuse me?" the scientist's head snapped up, eyes now focused on her colleague.

"When you came in just a few minutes ago," Cam said by way of explanation, "I wasn't upset that you were late, but rather surprised to see you here at all. We weren't expecting to see you until after lunch at least."

Brennan let her pen fall to the desk and sighed, "Booth called you?"

Cam gave an apologetic shrug before she nodded.

"While it's true I'm currently with child, I'm _not_ a child and am fully capable of knowing my own limitations," Brennan said firmly, clearly upset. "You above all people should be opposed to the idea of reducing my hours as it was you who voiced your displeasure at my absence from the Jeffersonian for an extended time."

"And I was displeased, however-"

The anthropologist cut Cam off, "When I decide to take maternity leave, I will inform you, Dr. Saryoan, but until that day comes I do not expect to be held to a different standard than any other employee."

"Did you need the extra sleep?" Cam asked bluntly, folding her arms across her chest. Brennan's eyes betrayed her before she could give an answer and Cam nodded, "Look, I fully recognize that you are dedicated to your job here. Nobody doubts that. But tell me what good is it to me for you to come in at your regular time if you're going to pass out halfway through the day?" She held up a hand as Brennan opened her mouth to protest, "I propose a compromise."

She stopped for a moment and Brennan raised a questioning eyebrow before nodding for the pathologist to continue.

"Is there any work you're doing today that can't be done from home?" Cam asked.

Brennan sifted through her mental checklist of things she had to accomplish and slowly shook her head.

"Well then," Cam smiled, "I propose that from now on, the day after you and Booth wrap a case you work from home."

The proposal was so simply put yet practical it took a long moment for Brennan to reply, "That seems reasonable, providing I would be allowed to come in under extenuating circumstances."

"If it's something I deem necessary, than yes," Cam nodded in agreement. "And I'm going to offer the same deal to Angela too. That way you two can work all of the unorthodox hours this job sometimes demands of us during a case, catch up on your sleep, and save me the hassle of dealing with your respective baby-daddies." At this Brennan quirked another eyebrow and Cam softened and smiled, "Booth wasn't the only one to call this morning. Are those terms acceptable?"

Even if she had wanted to say no, her body chose that time to yawn and she was forced to admit she was still tired despite sleeping in.

"Go home, Dr. Brennan," the order was light in tone, but left no room for debate. "Grab a nap then file your paperwork. I'm going to call Angela and tell her to do the same. With any luck the next body won't turn up at three in the morning."

Not waiting for a reply, Cam gave a curt nod and exited the office, leaving a slightly stunned Brennan in her wake. It wasn't often she was persuaded to alter her work schedule, but Brennan knew she'd been out-maneuvered this time and the arrangement would only be temporary until the baby was born.

It was a pleasantly surprised Booth who checked in with his fiancee later that day only to find she was taking it easy and staying at home. The surprise continued when he arrived back at their apartment to a home-cooked meal, complete with fresh-baked brownies for dessert. Eventually Brennan divulged the details of the compromise she'd struck with Cam and while he heartily approved he wasn't convinced he'd gotten off Scot-free for letting her sleep in.

"Bones," he asked when they were nestled in bed later that night, "are we good?"

She nodded sleepily, then added, "Please remember from now on that I'm fully capable of making judgment calls when it comes to my own well-being."

"Will do," he agreed, planting a kiss in her hair.

"Oh and Booth?" she put in just before drifting off to sleep. "I'm driving us to the next crime scene."


	10. Catch Me if You Can

Chapter 10: Catch Me if You Can 

There were no new cases through the end of the week so Booth got off easy. He also found himself bereft of Brennan much of Saturday as Angela insisted on dragging her friend to every baby boutique in the metro area. Declining the invitation to come along, Booth and Parker instead took Hodgins up on the offer to come over to the mansion and hang out.

That night was a mini fashion show of sorts as the women showed off their new maternity clothes as well as some of the little gender-neutral outfits they'd picked out. Booth teased that the outfits were just going to end up covered in baby puke and poop anyway, prompting questions from Parker about what he was like as a baby. Brennan sat listening to the tenderness and pride in Booth's voice as he regaled the boy with a few amusing anecdotes, the soft smile on her face relaying only a fraction of how happy she was to get to raise a child with this man.

All too soon the weekend slipped away and heartfelt goodbyes were given as they dropped Parker back off with his mom. It was only after witnessing the exchange between father and son from the car that Brennan realized what a selfish mistake it would have been had she gone through with her plans two years ago to father a child with Booth without being in an established relationship with him. She thought about how at the time she thought excusing him from paternal rights would make him more open to the idea and relieve him of any unnecessary worry on his part. What she would have done, she knew now, was force him to love their child from a distance and saddle himself with guilt for not being a good enough father.

"Hey, what's the matter?" one warm hand caressed her back as the other gently coaxed her chin up to meet his gaze.

Through shimmering, watery eyes she looked up at him and vowed, "You will not be denied any rights as a co-parent of our child. Ever."

Their gaze held for a long moment before Booth nodded his sincere thanks and understanding, then started the car back up and drove them home. They spoke a little further that night, ensconced in the safety of their bedroom, both expressing a regret for the hasty decision they'd almost made but a satisfaction about the pregnancy now, despite how unplanned it was. In her mind Brennan was both awed and at the same time slightly shaken by the deep intimacy that was involved in discussing such things with the man she loved.

"I wouldn't want to do any of this with anyone but you, Bones," Booth confided to her.

"Nor would I," she told him, burying herself deep under the covers and closing her eyes to sleep.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Twin cell phones chimed as Booth was in the shower and he wasn't surprised when Brennan came in a minute later to inform him a head had been found in a city dumpster behind a federal building. The head was far too decomposed for anyone else to identify, she told him as he found a pair of jeans and a shirt to throw on fast, and Cam would be waiting.

"Whoa," Booth reigned her in a few minutes later as she set off down the sidewalk in the opposite direction from his SUV. "Where are you going, Bones?"

"To the crime scene," she made a face that told him he should've known better and it was only after she narrowed her look to a glare her remembered his punishment for calling Cam on her the other day.

Fully expecting his cooperation she continued toward her car.

"Aw, can we at least take the Mercedes?" he groaned, standing at the passenger-side door. "There's more leg room."

She glanced at him over the hood and shrugged with a hint of a smirk, "It will detract from your FBI presence. Not to mention the Prius gets better gas mileage."

Bracing himself for a full-fledged Toyota commercial as he folded himself into the small front seat Booth just barely held back a groan. The groan he couldn't squelch was fortunately masked by the heavy hip-hop beat that blared from the speakers as the car came to life.

"No Gregorian chants this morning?" he snarked when she finally turned to a more tolerable volume.

"There can be if that's your preference," she told him, nodding to a book of CDs she kept between the seats.

"I'll pass," he shook his head.

There was some light conversation about the details from the scene they'd both received followed by more Prius talk until they finally settled on a topic. The perfect murder. Booth eyed the thinly veiled gleam of pride in his partner's eyes as she boasted that she could pull it off and wasn't quite teasing when he said she was a little scary. Along with her genius brain power, they'd worked enough cases over the years for her to be familiar with the FBI's side of things too, add to that he was fairly sure she could rationalize her way into going through with it if someone crossed her enough. She wasn't Max Keenan's daughter for nothing.

"Well, you can't kill for another 24 weeks, Bones," he winked at her.

"Why not?"

"No, no," he shook his head. "No murdering anyone while Bean is on-board. I don't want our kid born in jail."

"He or she wouldn't be born in jail, Booth, because you'd never be able to catch me," he could swear she was egging him on if she didn't look so serious.

"Oh, I'd catch you," he promised.

She looked over at him and shook her head, uttering a simple "no" before continuing the drive. They volleyed back and forth; him sure he'd know and her insistent he wouldn't even know she was involved. When they got to the scene and she had changed into her maternity jumpsuit that Angela had fashioned he pointed out that a dumpster would be a good place to hide a body, but she didn't go for the bait.

Of course Cam picked up on the odd dialogue and jumped right in to ask what was going on but Booth pushed them back on task, all the while trying to convince his stomach not to turn at the smells coming from the remains and the rest of the dumpster's contents. Bones pointed to the hands that had been recovered along with the skull, pointing out that they'd been sawed off, her lips quirking upward as if she actually approved of the forethought that went into the act.

"Is that how you'd do it?" he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, disappointed when she shook her head and continued her examination. "Aw, come on, Bones," he wheedled as he peered in the dumpster, "just tell me a little."

"No," she steadfastly refused. "If I tell you 'a little' now you might try and coerce me into revealing the rest of my method in a post-coital haze at some point and I might be pliant enough to accede."

"Right," Booth clutched his note cards a little tighter and focused on anything but how many people were listening intently to them, "because you know how much I like to talk about dismemberment and murder right after sex."

"The other night you said I-"

Booth would forever be grateful to Cam for cutting Brennan off and pointing out just that something looked off about the phalanges. He was even prouder when he was able to ID the injury before his partner.

"That's right," he told her smugly, tapping his note cards off of her shoulder playfully, "'Cause you see, I always get my man."

"I am a woman."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Cam tiptoed up the steps to the forensic platform, knowing full-well that her lead forensic anthropologist was immersed in her work and would most likely not be open to the proposition Cam was about to make. Ignoring Brennan's habit of correcting a statement to make it accurate, the pathologist took a deep breath and began her pitch.

It was quickly obvious that Brennan had never heard of Bunsen Jude, much less his show, and the deeper in Cam dug herself the more she got the sinking feeling that this wasn't going to end in Jude's favor. This wouldn't sit well with Cam's higher-ups who were gung ho these days for any stunt that could bring in more funding. Kids were usually a huge draw too.

Just when she was about to throw in the towel, Jude made one last attempt to appeal to Brennan. He offered to be her "squintern" for the case and _if_ she felt he was useful then she could agree to be on the show with him. Cam held her breath, releasing it only when she saw her colleague consider the offer, then accept however skeptically.

Jude donned a pair of latex gloves and joined Dr. Brennan in her examination of the remains that had been found. Instead of looking at the bones, however, the exuberant man went for the clumps of hair and seemed to easily identify that it wasn't from the victim's head. Once she'd been assured that it wasn't "that" kind of hair, and that she could safely leave the hormonal anthropologist without fear of her choosing Jude as the victim for whatever perfect murder scheme she and Booth had been bickering about, Cam left the platform and went in search of Angela.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

After spending the better part of the day inside, Booth stopped by the lab with a bag full of Chinese and suggested they go on a picnic.

"But you're wearing a suit now and I'm finding it more uncomfortable to sit where there is not back support," Brennan pointed out.

"Fine," he reached out for the lab coat she handed him, exchanging it for her jacket, "we'll just eat outside. On a bench."

The fresh air sounded good to her for though fall had descended on DC it wasn't cold out quite yet. They walked to a small park and found a bench beside the man-made pond that Brennan deemed had adequate support for her back. As they passed the cartons back and forth, Booth filled her in on his meeting with the bail bondsman while Brennan told him about her newly acquired help, as well as the man's offer.

"Why don't you want to do a kid's show?" Booth asked as he worked on the last carton.

"It's a waste of my time," she said through the extra sandwich he'd brought for her just in case.

"It's a science show."

"_Kid's_ science," she specified.

"What? Parker loves that show," Booth waved her disdain off. "He's always watching it. Always shouting out that slogan: 'Ready! Aim! Fire!'" He punched the chopsticks through the air and gave a big grin as he waited to see if she knew to correct him.

"Observe. Analyze. Deduce," she returned flatly, though it proved at least that she knew what he was talking about.

He prodded just a little further and was surprised to hear her say that people should stick to their strengths so he pushed at what he thought might be the actual issue, "You're going to be a great mom, Bones. Really."

She made a pinchy face and went back to her sandwich, swallowing it before admitting, "I'm completely unfamiliar with children's media outlets."

"Parker and I can catch you up to speed on that," he shrugged.

"I'm not even certain what Dude wants me to do," she added.

"He'll tell you," Booth encouraged.

"Not many children find me amusing or entertaining," she said after another bite.

"Parker loves you, the kids in the crowd when we were Buck and Wanda loved you, and I _know_ that Bean already loves you," he set the carton to the side and patted her baby bump.

He was pretty sure she would've argued further had Angela not called and given them Hodgins' findings along with her own. When they hung up, Bones told him he was going to need Tootie again and he grimaced at the memory of the slobber the dog had produced despite being good at her job.

Instead of rehashing the kid's show he let it rest and brought up a different topic as they walked arm in arm back to the lab, "You know, Bones. I would eventually catch you at your 'perfect' murder. I arrested Max."

"Arrested?" She shrugged with a slight nod, "Yes. Convicted? No."


	11. Throw Me a Bone

Chapter 11:

Traipsing through the woods with a cadaver dog and a rambling commentary in a nasal, New England accent wasn't Booth's idea of a great afternoon. He was starting to wonder if Tootie had lost a step or two as the hours passed and nothing showed up on her doggie radar. As the words left his mouth about the dog being tired he remembered the dog doing the same thing years before at the studio and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Tootie found him," Booth reported back to Brennan, leaning back against a tree as the techs began dressing the scene for removal. "Or at least she found _a_ body. We're about to start digging."

"Are you supervising them carefully?" she questioned him. "I don't want any shovel nicks on the bones. They have to unearth it slowly and with great care."

As she continued doling out instructions he'd heard a million times he smiled to himself, watching the crew he'd hand-picked for this assignment remove each layer of dirt as if there were a land mine underneath and not a dead body. These were people they'd worked with before so he felt no trepidation in trusting them with the task.

"Calm down, Bones," he soothed the increasing frazzled woman on the other end. "I've got your back, here, okay? I won't let them mess anything up. Are you and Cam coming out?"

To his surprise, she was sending Cam alone, citing a desire to keep a closer eye on the rogue scientist in her lab. He wasn't about to persuade her otherwise because they were pretty far out in the woods and the last thing he needed on top of a hormonal partner was a tired, footsore, hormonal partner. Still, she wasn't quite ceding her control and for the next hour she stayed on the line via bluetooth and kept tabs on what was going on at the scene while she went about her duties at the lab.

"I can see Cam coming," Booth told her as he waved to the approaching pathologist. "I'll swing by the lab for lunch when I get back."

"With the body here I won't have time to go out," she said as if he should know that by now.

"Which is why I'm bringing lunch to the lab," he countered. "You and Bean can grab a bite in your office and then examine the body to your heart's content. Hey, I should get going, Bones. Cam needs me."

To his relief Brennan accepted that and hung up.

"I need you?" Cam arched an eyebrow.

"Cut me some slack, okay," he rubbed the back of his neck. "She's been on the line with me since we got here."

Cam nodded sympathetically, knowing how the hormones had affected her colleague at work, and handed Booth a fresh cup of coffee while she began her examination. They were just getting started when Caroline came storming though the forest wanting to know what in the Sam Hill they were doing there. Both sides exchanged information and Booth was with Caroline in hoping there wasn't a second body waiting for them somewhere.

It was close to one by the time they got back and Booth swung by Sid's on the way for some food. Sid gave him enough to feed an army of pregnant squints, only charging him for two meals and telling him the rest was on him. Sid had developed a soft spot for the crew, even though he claimed he was just providing the food so that there wouldn't be any decomposing flesh chatter in his restaurant during the dinner rush later tonight.

Booth laid out the food for the squints in the upstairs lounge for them to get when they had the chance, then took his own food along with Brennan's down to her office. She was antsy the whole time, knowing that "Dude" was up on the platforms with her remains but he assured her that Cam and Hodgins would keep a close eye on their guest. He'd just gotten her to relax when Sweets called to let him know he had his psych analysis of Molly Braverman ready to go over with Booth at the Hoover.

Brennan announced that she needed to go up and study the remains anyway so reluctantly Booth agreed to meet Sweets. As he was walking out, Cam walked in, announcing that Jude had just figured out cause of death. Booth didn't miss the skepticism in his fiancee's eyes, but as Cam went on, Brennan looked more impressed, then announced she was going to confirm the facts for herself.

"Make sure she doesn't overdo it," Booth half-whispered before taking off.

Cam waited until the agent's back was turned to roll her eyes and head off in search of food. Her herd of cats was getting harder and harder to wrangle and if she was going to make it through this case she was going to need a lot of fuel.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"I'm going with you," a very stubborn Brennan announced once they'd deduced where Molly Braverman was staying.

"Bones," it was a halfhearted whine and they both knew it, just as much as they both knew she wasn't staying behind this time. "Fine. But we're taking _my_ car."

"Fine," she was just happy to get out of the lab after being cooped up there through the morning and afternoon. At one time she would've been satisfied with staying, but going out in the field with Booth was something she'd become accustomed to over the years and she found she didn't like not being at his side during a case.

Booth's gut began twitching when Molly answered the door, much more nervous at the sight of them than she should be. He caught sight of Braverman just when Bones did and he yelled at both women to lock themselves in the apartment before taking off after the man. As he crossed the street he could hear the cabbie behind him swearing at someone and knew instantly that Brennan wasn't far behind.

"Get down, Bones!" he shouted as the other man fired at them, shoving her back behind him as they took refuge behind the dumpster. "Stay," he hissed with no delusions that she'd listen as he took off after the fugitive once again.

Braverman dashed into a parking garage and the only thing that kept Booth from yelling at his partner again was when the man pitched his gun and broke into a dead run. Upping his own speed, Booth raced forward, his mind telling him he had more than enough room to catch the guy before they ran out of space. His concentration was rudely interrupted as something bowled into him, sending him slamming into the concrete. Behind him, Brennan warned the woman who'd taken him out had a shotgun.

"Bones! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" he yelled futilely, watching as she picked up the shotgun and leveled it at Braverman.

The fugitive wasn't about to surrender and a moment later the sound of shattering glass echoed off the parking garage walls, followed by the sound of a thud as the man landed, then kept going. Booth watched his partner shake her head in disgust at the window and he knew they'd lost their guy for now. From his side the other woman was starting to chew him out and when he realized she was another bounty hunter, he got fed up and slapped the cuffs on her whether she really deserved it or not.

"Are we taking her into custody?" Bones asked when the bounty hunter was safely stowed in the back seat of Booth's SUV.

"I am," he said pointedly. "I'll drop you off at the lab."

Brennan crossed her arms and glared at him but he shook his head, "You were shot at, so it's either the lab or I take you home."

"Fine," she sulked, glaring one last time at him before going around to her side and getting in.

It wasn't the cheeriest of rides that he'd ever been with but he made his point by dropping Brennan at the lab and then making the bounty hunter wait until he was good and ready to release her. Like he told Caroline, he didn't care who got to Braverman first, but he didn't want to make things easy for the bounty hunter either. Especially since his back was screaming at him when he finally got to sit down.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

The next morning, Sweets was listening with great patience as the agent on his couch expressed his desire to change genders. All of a sudden he became quiet and the two sat staring at each other, each unsure of what to say next. The decision was ripped away from Sweets when Booth barreled through the door and insisted he needed Sweets right away.

"Two minutes," Booth repeated before turning to exit as quickly as he'd entered.

At a slight loss for words, Sweets encouraged the man to take the weekend to consider his decision before doing anything else. With any luck this case would be over by then, thought the psychologist. For now, though, he had to go.

What Sweets didn't know was that it was Caroline, not Booth, that had been adamant he come right away. That morning they'd gotten an anonymous video tip and she didn't want to waste time waiting for Sweets to be done. Once they'd gathered around the monitor and Booth gave his obligatory whine, she proceeded to fill them in and play the tape.

All three winced and sucked in air when the pool cue collided with the dead bounty hunter's rib, though Booth knew this would make his partner happy and maybe put him back on her good side. She'd been a little bit testy about being dumped at the lab last night and while he hadn't spent the night on the couch he may as well have.

"What do you think?" he asked when he'd sent the clip to her.

"I'll have Angela run it through the Angelatron but I'm fairly certain in saying it's consistent with the old break we discovered," she told him.

"Yep, I figured that too," he grinned into the phone, propping his feet up on his desk. "You coming over when we broil this guy?"

"I'm quite certain you're capable of _grilling_ him yourself," she stated firmly. "I have work to do here at the lab. Besides I'm sure that if he is the killer I will be safer here."

"Look, Bones, I'm not going to apologize for wanting to keep the two of you safe," he shook his head. "Like it or not you've got a baby that we need to keep on board for a while longer. I don't like the thought of anything happening to either one of you."

There was a long pause followed by a heavy sigh and she asked quietly, "Do you think I'm too selfish to be a good mother?"

"What? No!" his feet came off the desk and he sat up straight. "No, Bones, you'll be fine. Trust me, okay?"

"Angela says that I need to do this appearance on the science show in order to engender myself to children more as we will both soon be mothers," she told him. "I suppose I've been wondering if our child will like me or if they will perceive me as outwardly cold as well."

Booth wished more than anything he were there to hold her and help battle her insecurities in person, but he knew there wasn't enough time before his suspect was brought in, "Listen to me Bones, Bean is going to love you, I promise. Moms-" he paused for a millisecond remembering his own mom, "-they mean everything to a kid no matter how everyone else sees them. And I know how much you love Bean already."

"I do," he heard the whispered reply and smiled again.

"Of course, hey, what's Bean up to this week?" he asked. "Is he growing anything fun?"

"He _or_ she," Brennan emphasized, "is continuing to grow daily. The eyes have been migrating and are almost in their final position, as well as their ears."

Booth listened as her voice swelled with excitement with each detail she noted and was happy to hear the confidence coming back to her as well. He was going to need to have a chat with Angela about how to approach things with this newly hormonal Brennan, but by the time they hung up he felt like the damage had been contained to a minimum. Not more than a minute later, Caroline was at his door and together they headed off to interrogate their newest suspect.


	12. What Scientists Do

Chapter 12: What Scientists Do

As he darted down the hospital corridor Booth tried to figure out exactly how – for the second time in as many days – he and Brennan had ended up in a scenario he'd sworn to himself he wouldn't let her be a part of. True, back at the Hoover it had been her insight that let him know the Bravermans wouldn't be going far with Charlie; and then Sweets had sent a few self-satisfied jibes at her, riling her up. So when all of the pieces fell together on his way to taking her back to the lab he'd given into her silent pleas to let her come along.

In his peripheral he watched Molly Braverman go down, freeing him to focus on her husband. Braverman dropped like a stone as a shot fired, but Booth's ears registered right away that it wasn't the right sound. He saw Braverman on the ground, a beanbag nearby and it clicked.

"No, wait!" he yelled to the bounty hunter. "Drop the weapon."

She obviously thought he was worried about her having a loaded gun and he ended up having to be a little bit more forceful than he liked before she dropped the beanbag gun and got on her knees.

"Booth?" she came into his line of vision unharmed and clearly wondering what was going on.

When prompted she filled him in on Molly's condition so as he cuffed the bounty hunter he asked, "Bones, you think that a potato gun and a beanbag can generate the same fig Newtons per square inch?"

"It's just Newtons, Booth." She leaned down a bit awkwardly to pick up the beanbag and examine it, then nodded, "Yes, I think they could be very similar. Why?"

Booth looked at LeBlanc and back at his partner.

Understanding dawned, "The bounty hunter killed the Wolf?"

He nodded, "They're both after Braverman at the same time in the woods near his cabin. So she just takes him out for the two hundred grand bounty."

But he could see the gears churning in Brennan's head as she factored in the new information, "It was an accident. The rib fragment broke off in the fight at the pool hall." She turned to LeBlanc and in her uniquely blunt way concluded, "You had no idea that your beanbag gun would kill him."

"Bones, what are you, a defense lawyer now?" he protested, only half in jest.

"A kind mind is a fine mind," she chided him.

"She cut off his head!" Booth pointed out, "That wasn't an accident."

"I have no rebuttal to that statement," she gave a tiny shrug.

"Right," he hauled LeBlanc around to take her out. "Let's go."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

"Will Molly Braverman be charged?" Brennan wanted to know when they were back within the safety of the Jeffersonian.

"Depends on what kind of mood Caroline's in," Booth shrugged. "She'll probably charge and then work out a plea before it goes to trial."

"I'm glad we're not lawyers," she shook her head.

"You and me both," Booth agreed, stretching his legs out and resting his feet on the coffee table.

She glared at him from her desk but said nothing, so he left them there and he continued his paperwork. A few minutes later he felt her walking toward him and looked up just in time to see her drop something in his lap.

"Your list of baby names?" he teased, hefting the stack even as he scooted to make room for her.

She shook her head but said nothing, eyes indicating he should read what she'd given him. His curiosity was too much for him to do anything else and when he saw what it was a wide smile spread across his face and he looked up to meet her waiting gaze.

"You're going to do it," he stated more than asked and she nodded shyly. "It looks good," he nodded at the script. "Really squinty."

"It's scientifically accurate," she nodded, adding with a soft smile, "and fun. Do you think Parker would like to come to the filming? I can even arrange a meeting with Dude if he would like."

"I think he'd like that a lot if we can work things out with Rebecca," Booth told her, draping an arm over her shoulder as they perused the script together.

It did look like a fun script, but the science was explained so that even Booth could follow what was going on. Bones would be dressed in a skeleton body suit and after leading the kids through their opening oath, she'd do a short segment on the skeletal system. Booth was pleased to see he recognized the scientific names for the bones she'd be teaching the kids about, though he let her explain them to him nonetheless.

She then went on to tell him the crew from Bunsen Jude's show would be working through the night to transform the forensic platform and surrounding area into a proper set for them to film in front of an audience the next morning. The longer she talked the more the excited gleam in her eyes grew and by the time they left for the time she was positively glowing with anticipation.

The next morning, Brennan set off for the lab on her own while Booth slept. She was greeted by a personal assistant who had been assigned to her for the day to make sure everything was in order. The young woman guided Brennan through the maze of production equipment, making sure the scientist made it to her costume fitting, hair, and make-up appointments on schedule. It fascinated Brennan to see how much work went into producing a mere thirty minutes of television and she found she very much enjoyed the whole experience.

"Knock, knock," a voice sounded from outside her office, which was doubling as a makeshift dressing room today.

"Booth! Parker!" she greeted them both enthusiastically. "Come in. Did you get to meet Dude already?"

They hadn't but Brennan assured Parker she would make sure he did by the day's end, explaining there would be more time after the taping was done than right now. The frenzied bustle outside was evidence of how much work was yet to be done.

"Is that the baby under all that pink stuff?" Parker wanted to know, nodding at the tutu that had been devised to hide much of Brennan's baby bump.

"Yes," she answered, "I suggested they could add a section of the costume with fetal bones to more accurately account for my bulging uterus, however they opted against that and proposed this instead."

"I sure hope you're a girl," Parker addressed her stomach, wrinkling his nose at the thought of a boy being covered in that much pink.

Brennan was about to launch in on a brief history lesson on colors being assigned to gender when her assistant appeared at the door and announced it was almost time for the show to begin. Booth and Brennan exchanged a quick kiss and Parker wished her luck as she was hurried away.

"Ready to grab our seats?" Booth asked.

The younger Booth was more than ready and was thrilled with the great seats that had been reserved just for them. Around them was a sea of kids every inch as eager as Parker was to be on the set for a live taping. Just off to the side by the doors, Cam, Caroline, Angela, and Hodgins also stood waiting to see exactly what was going to happen and how Brennan would be received.

A campy music beat that Booth recognized began and all focus shifted to the forensic platform. It had been decked out with set pieces, including a lit sign that read "The Lab" in yellow letters. Bunsen Jude welcomed them all, then introduced their special hostess. Booth held his breath until Brennan emerged with a lightness in her step he hadn't seen before and a wide smile on her face.

As she led them through the oath, he remembered how much she'd loved the crowd at the circus too, and he could see the kids' enthusiasm was feeding hers, making her more confident the further along she went. It was also clear that the truths couched in rhyme that she was spouting were things she was passionate about and he was proud that she was _his_ scientist. At the end, she waved and smiled at all of the kids, saving a big smile and a thumbs-up for him and Parker. The Booth boys returned both.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Brennan was backstage preparing for her second segment when she felt an odd sensation in her stomach. At first she passed it off as nerves, but it came again and just a little bit harder only a few minutes later. She now wished her hands could be free of the ridiculous gloves they were encased in, although she knew the likely-hood of feeling the baby's kicks on the outside of her uterus was small. Still, it was the first time she'd felt the quickening sensation and she couldn't wait to share the experience with Booth.

The segment was completed with ease as the lesson she was giving on the skeletal system was extremely elementary in nature, but she couldn't deny that it was fun no matter how simple. The children in the audience agreed and heralded her with their enthusiastic applause and cheers. As she finished and waved one last time, she decided she was very glad Angela and Booth had talked her into doing the show.

When all was finished, Dude thanked her once again for her participation and promised they would send her a DVD copy of the episode, along with information on when it would be airing on their local PBS station. She thanked him for the opportunity and took him over to meet a very star-struck Parker who had been waiting patiently for this moment. Parker was quiet at first, but became animated when he discovered Dude had gotten to do an experiment with Dr. Hodgins.

It sounded so fun to the boy that it was all he could talk about for the rest of the evening and over dinner he begged his dad to be allowed to do an experiment with Hodgins too. Booth told him that maybe he could when he got armpit hair, which brought a groan from Parker, followed by an estimation on Brennan's part as to when Parker could expect said armpit hair to arrive. Booth almost felt sorry for Rebecca, who they left with a _very_ wound up Parker, however she almost had forbidden the night out altogether since it was a school night, so he didn't feel too bad.

The following day was Friday and the pair decided to work at the Hoover on their paperwork since the TV work crews were still tearing down the sets and restoring the Jeffersonian lab to its previous condition. Brennan was heartily impressed at the end of the work day when she returned to find everything as it always had been, with no trace of the Bunsen Jude set left behind.

"Wish we could've kept that lab sign," Hodgins said wistfully. "That was cool."

"You're a gazillionaire," Angela rolled her eyes. "I think you can afford to buy your own."

Hodgins eyes lit up at that and he scurried away to his office to begin his search.

"So what do you think now that it's over, Bren?" Angela asked when only the two of them remained.

Brennan was quiet for a long moment, leaning heavily on the rail as she looked out over the lab from up above, then answered, "It was a highly enjoyable experience."

"I think our kids are going to love it," Angela sighed dreamily.

Brennan thought about the small kicks she'd felt just the day before and allowed herself to imagine what it would be like to some day relay that memory while she, and Booth, and the baby, and Parker watched the promised DVD. Yes, she assured Angela, she was very glad she had done the show. Very glad indeed.


	13. Spineless Wonders

**Hey, just a quick note to let you all know I will be chatting live tonight at 9pm EST for the online book club on Bonesology. We will be discussing the first story in this series, "Vanishing Point." Hope to get to meet some of you! If you need help getting there, send me a PM.**

**Gum :)**

Chapter 13: Spineless Wonders

"We've got a case," Booth announced to whoever might be listening, slapping the file almost gleefully as he bounded up the platform stairs.

It was Wednesday which meant counting the weekend they hadn't worked together in five days. Not that that would've been particularly long normally, but the Major Crimes unit had gotten a break in one of their long-term cases over the weekend and Booth had spent the time divided between an unmarked van and the interrogation room. Then he'd spent the next two days in briefings, filling his superiors in on what had gone down and working to Caroline to get all of their ducks in a row for court.

Brennan hadn't been idle either. Rounding up her squinterns again had been a painstaking process in the beginning but not that they were back she had plenty of supervisory work to accomplish, including setting all of them back on track to earn their doctorates. Then Monday, just before they left, the Jeffersonian enlisted them to aid in the authentication of ancient remains that had recently fallen into their possession.

Booth knew at the words "ancient remains" he'd lost her for the foreseeable future and sure enough, she, Arastoo, and Hodgins were huddled in a tight knot, talking a mile a minute about something he didn't even pretend to understand.

"People," he whacked the folder on top of one of the computers to get their attention. "Dead body here. Who's coming with me?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Brennan replied absently without looking up.

The three continued their discussion but he could tell they were winding down so he tried to wait as patiently as he could.

"Mr. Vaziri," his partner addressed Arastoo, "you may carefully pack up the remains and call Transport for pickup, then ready the platform for whatever remains Booth and I recover. I will contact you from the scene when I know more."

"Missing link to humanity?" Booth asked when she joined him, chucking a thumb at the guy on the table.

She shook her head, but there was a smile in her eyes, "We're planning on publishing our findings and I expect it'll be well-received."

"That's great, Bones!" he grinned. "Gonna make the cover like you did with Anok?"

One shoulder bobbed up and down as they climbed in the SUV and just like that she shifted her focus, wanting him to fill her in on he knew so far. It wasn't much. A kid on a skateboard had stumbled over a skull in a downtown construction site and from all appearances the rest of the skeleton was encased in concrete.

The only thing Brennan was able to give him once she'd done her initial assessment was that the guy was indeed a guy, and a fairly young guy at that. This left him with the unenviable task of hauling over a ton of concrete out of the site and back to the Jeffersonian. As always, his partner remained at his side through the entire process, overseeing all of the minutia in order to insure none of the remains were compromised in the process. Over the years, though, she'd come to trust the hand-picked group of techs Booth assigned to their cases and the operation went smoothly.

"Early lunch?" he proposed, knowing she wouldn't be leaving the lab for a while once she got there.

To his surprise she agreed without argument, even suggesting they get takeout so they could enjoy the nice fall weather. October was in full force, but the sun was shining brightly as they found an empty bench and began eating.

"Is Bean still kicking you around?" Booth smiled, giving her belly an affectionate tap.

"I've no doubt he or she is quite active, however I haven't felt any discernible movement since the weekend," she told him.

"Is that normal?" his brows knit in concern.

"Quite," she assured him. "According to the books I've consulted, many first-time mothers aren't even aware of fetal movement until the nineteenth or twentieth-week mark and this Friday I will be seventeen weeks."

"When will I be able to feel them?" he wanted to know next.

Her head tilted to one side as she paused ever-so-slightly before providing him with a more detailed answer than he'd really wanted, but he nodded all the same. His mind drifted as she spoke and he tried to imagine what it would feel like to have a little foot kick his hand. He and Becca had split long before they'd gotten to this stage with Parker, so in many ways he felt like he was doing the first-time parent thing right along with Bones.

All too soon the lab called, informing them that the skeleton-filled slab had arrived safely and was awaiting her arrival to determine what should be done next.

"Lemme know what you find out," he said as he pulled up to the drop-off area for her.

"I will," she nodded with a smile.

Before he realized what was going on, she'd leaned over the center console, planted a light kiss on his lips, then waved her hand coyly and exited the vehicle. It was a good way to kick off the afternoon.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Booth was neck deep in paperwork when Brennan called to let him in on the fact that they had no bones; only hollow spaces in the concrete where the bones once were. He could tell she was at a loss and wasn't surprised one bit when she told him she'd be late getting home. She sent over the picture of the tooth tattoo they'd found and he promised to poke around Missing Person's, though they both knew that Angela would probably beat him to the punch.

At six, he decided that if he had to fill out one more form he was going to scream. A quick call confirmed Brennan was still at the lab with no immediate plans to leave. He was just about to nag her about food when an idea struck him, so he let her go and promised he'd see her soon.

His back was to the door and he was busying himself at the sink when he heard her key slide in the lock.

"What's this?" she asked, gesturing to the candlelight table set for two that he'd laid out.

"Do I need some special occasion to cook dinner for my fiancee?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"I suppose not," her tone was still cautious.

"Got new toothbrushes too," his grin was wide now, eyes teasing.

Her eyes sparkled, "Did you forget and flush without putting the lid down again?"

"Maybe," he gave a half shrug. "Look I was thinking maybe we could get a toothbrush vault or whatever. Just to keep them safe from all the crap in the bathroom."

"Fecal matt-"

"You know what?" Booth cut her off with a quick kiss. "Let's drop the bathroom talk and focus on the romantic dinner for now."

"The one that was made for no particular occasion outside of the evening meal?"

"See? You're a genius after all," he kissed the top of her head and moved past her with the hot plate of food. "Soup's on!"

Actually, it was spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, and a tall glass of sparkling grape juice for both of them. A full spread. Booth listened as she talked about her day, happy to watch the tension leak out of her as the meal went on. Then it was her turn to listen while he griped about green agents and the redundancy of government paperwork. Over cheesecake they talked about the baffling case and how they might be able to glean more information without having anything but the skull.

By the time they finished Booth was feeling more awake than he had all day but he could tell his partner had pushed herself pretty hard so he drew her a warm bath, gave her a foot massage, and held her when she fell asleep during the Flyer's game. Around ten she roused and it wasn't hard to convince her to go to bed from there.

The next morning one very refreshed anthropologist slipped out of their apartment, congratulating herself on evading Booth's sniper senses. Avoidance wasn't her goal, but she had a potentially long day ahead of her and she wanted to get started.

"Good morning, Angela," she greeted her friend with a smile, then frowned in concern. "Have you been here all night?"

"Is it morning?" the somnolent artist released a yawn, grimacing at Brennan's nod. "Then yeah, I've been here all night."

"Is that good for the baby?" Brennan thought about the endless lectures Booth gave on the subject of rest as related to fetal health.

Angela replied that what the baby didn't know wouldn't hurt them before moving on to discuss what had kept her. Brennan was fascinated at the concept of a three-dimensional replica of the skeleton that could potentially provide them with the clues they needed. Praising her for her out of the box, lateral thinking Brennan waved absently to Angela and continued to stare at the lasers while her friend went in search of sleep, fully agreeing with Arastoo's statement that he felt as if he were in the future.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" she sensed Booth's presence come alongside her, though her gaze was still riveted to the lasers.

"If we're taking orders I'd like a six four, thirty-seven year old male, with a good income and no mommy issues," Cam quipped.

"Paul has mommy issues?" Booth questioned her.

"He works with too many," sighed Cam before she shook her head and shifted the topic. "Got something for us?"

"Yeah," Booth waved a file. "Tooth tattoo guy's name was Robert Pearson."

"Assuming he's the only missing man to have a tattoo of a hip-hop dancer on his front left incisor," Brennan put in, then added at the looks she got from Cam and Booth. "Admittedly the odds are in your favor."

"Right," Booth smirked but let it go. "The last place we have him at is a dance studio downtown, wanna come?"

"I'll get my things," Brennan nodded.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

If Booth wasn't sure what to think of the people they met at the dance studio, it was double that when they went to Kalorama Park. Show people weren't his favorite to begin with and show people who had possibly killed someone were even lower on his list. Then the magician lifted Booth's watch and hit on his pregnant fiancee like it was nothing and Booth got snippy. Fortunately for the little knot of performers they'd assembled they found the bronzed Shakespeare guy and hauled him off for questioning.

Brennan decided to go back to the lab and Booth decided to foist the bronze bard onto Sweets and see what the kid could come up with. Hidden from view in the observation room Booth did his best to keep up with the conversation, surprised at how much he remembered from his college lit class. He had a sinking feeling that another trip to the park was in his near future; a feeling that was confirmed when his partner called to update him on what the squint squad had found.

"The murder weapon as described by Cam and Angela could very well be a sharpened screwdriver tipped with a bone eating fungus," she commented as they drove.

He tilted his head and gave her a look, "Bone eating fungus? Sometimes you say things that sound crazy in a really serious tone of voice."

"Perhaps," she shrugged.

"I kinda like it," he admitted.

They exchanged a smile and she wanted to know, "Are you going to be brusque with the performers again? Because I don't think they respond well to your authoritarian approach."

Exiting the SUV, they bickered back as forth as to what the best approach would be, but when they got to Russel Leonard and noticed his bag sitting on the ground they easily fell into their roles. Brennan was very much pleased with their performance when they were interrupted by Booth's phone.

She couldn't catch the name on the Caller ID display, but Booth's countenance dropped and he began waving for the officers patrolling the park to come take Leonard from him. He gravely assured the person on the other end that he was on his way.

"Booth?" her hand moved to his forearm, gently probing.

Though his head turned toward her, his eyes were vacant, face drained of its natural color. The words he rasped just before he took off for the SUV thrust fear into her soul, "Parker. Shooting."


	14. Shooting, Eating, and Leaving

**Sorry for leaving you guys and Parker in limbo. Life got crazy here at home and then pal GCatsPJs sucked me into writing a tag-team fic with her. It's called "Just Partners" for all who are interested and our joint screenname here on fanfic is Thnx4theCatsPJs. Anyway, hope you all enjoy this one! I'll try to get the next bit up sooner.**

**Gum :)**

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Chapter 14: Shooting, Eating, and Leaving

Brennan would've offered to drive in Booth's stead but found she was just as affected by the news about Parker as he was. Always racing ahead, her mind was sifting through the endless possibilities of what may or may not have happened at the school. Parker's elementary school was not in one of the rougher neighborhoods, but that didn't mean there wasn't some element of danger, and school shootings in the past had proven that an urban setting wasn't necessary for violence to be unleashed.

Booth hadn't given her any further details and indeed hadn't spoken past the two shaky words he'd uttered at the park. His posture was ramrod straight now as he drove, his eyes firmly fixed on the road in front of him, fully focused, knuckles whitening from the grip he had on the wheel. She desperately wanted to say something to ease his mind, but was having a difficult time keeping her own emotions in check, not to mention she wouldn't have known what to say anyway.

"This isn't the way to the hospital," she found the words spilling out before she could check them as she realized where in the city they were.

"Gotta get Parker at school," was all Booth would say, his voice gritty and thick with emotion.

She doubted if he was suffering from a gunshot wound that they would keep Parker at the scene until Booth arrived but one look at the man she loved told her this was not the time to point out his error. Booth slipped effortlessly through traffic, pulling right up to the front sidewalk of the school before shutting the SUV down.

The thing that struck Brennan the most was the lack of activity. For all of her time dealing with law enforcement in DC, she'd never been to a crime scene that was so devoid of chaos. A patrol car was making its rounds through the parking lot and two officers guarded the door, but beyond that nothing seemed out of place. If there had been an ambulance there, it has long since left the premises and Brennan feared her original conclusion that they should've gone to the hospital first was correct.

Still, she said nothing, allowing her presence to provide the comfort Booth needed to face whatever lay in front of them. As soon as he was beside her, he took her hand, lacing his fingers between hers and gripping them for support. He flashed his badge and the officers waved them through, a grim nod passing between them that increased Brennan's sense of unease.

As with the parking lot, the school hallways seemed eerily normal and not at all what Brennan had been prepared to deal with. Classes were being conducted as if nothing was out of the ordinary and a sense of calm pervaded.

The tension reared up and slapped her in the face as they crossed the threshold into the office, however. Booth didn't even have to flash his badge before the secretary welcomed the pair solemnly and ushered them back to one of the interior rooms.

"I'll bring him back here right away, Mr. Booth," the woman told them.

Booth gave a curt nod of thanks, releasing a long breath as the door clicked shut behind the secretary. He then released Brennan's hand and began pacing the small room like a caged tiger, "What do I tell him, Bones? I mean, I think I know what I have to tell him but how do I actually tell him?"

"I don't understand," her brow furrowed. "What are we doing, Booth? Why is Parker not at the hospital?"

"We're taking him," Booth said as if that should be obvious to her. "I just-" he halted and looked her in the eye. "What would you tell him, Bones? You're way better at telling kids the truth than me."

"The truth about what?" she was starting to feel as if she and Booth were talking about two separate things. She grabbed hold of his arm as his made his next pass by her, "I need you to explain what's going on, Booth. Why, if Parker has been shot, are _we_ taking him to the hospital?"

That question stopped Booth to a screeching halt and his head jerked up to face her, shaking vigorously from side to side, "Parker wasn't shot, Bones. Rebecca was. Her law firm called the school and the school called me. I don't want him getting the news from anyone else, but I don't know how to tell him."

Certain things suddenly made sense to her in that context and while she still found that news distressing, she felt the weight of the fog that had engulfed her mind dissipating even as she asked, "What's her status? Is it life-threatening?"

"I don't know," Booth shook his head, wringing his hands. "They just told me she'd been shot and that she'll live but beyond that I don't know. What do I tell Parker, Bones?"

"The truth," she said quietly, taking his hand. "Tell him his mother has been shot and that while you are unsure of her condition right now, you'll be taking him right to the hospital to see her."

"Right. Yeah," the nervous edge was still in his voice.

Brennan looked up at him with compassion in her eyes, wishing she could shoulder Booth's anxiety for him. She placed a hand gently on his cheek. "This is not the first time Parker's been informed that one of his parents has been shot," she reminded him, thinking of all the times over the last six years Parker must have received this news concerning Booth. "He is a strong boy and Rebecca is still alive."

Though Brennan felt her sentiments to be trite and somewhat obvious, Booth did not and at the sound of voices in the outer office he thanked her softly, squeezed her hands and turned to face the door as it opened. For her part, Brennan felt a rush of relief as the young boy stood in front of them, whole and healthy, as if her metaphorical heart needed proof that Parker was indeed not the shooting victim she'd believed him to be.

"Dad!" the boy's eyes lit up in pleasant surprise, then narrowed as he picked up on the adults' somber mood. "Why are you here? Are you okay? Is Mom okay?"

Brennan saw Booth's confidence waver and she quickly captured his hand in hers and held it fast as Booth warily explained, "I'm fine and your mom is going to be fine."

"What happened?" Parker asked quietly.

"She was hurt at work," He and Brennan exchanged a look before her turned back to Parker, "We'll take you to the hospital to see her right now."

"But what _happened?_" Parker insisted. "How did she get hurt?"

Once again Booth looked to Brennan before answering softly, "She was shot, son."

For a long moment, Parker looked stunned, then Booth extended his free hand out and Parker dropped his belongings and ran into his father's embrace. Brennan's eyes were already moistening with tears when Parker flung one of his arms around her as well, drawing her into their midst as well. Her tears fell freely as Parker's head came to rest on her stomach and she stroked his hair soothingly while Booth continued to reassure him everything would be just fine.

Finally Parker looked up, eyes red-rimmed with tears he was trying hard to hold back and announced, "Let's go."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Parker Booth was quickly discovering what the "waiting" in Waiting Room meant. He shifted in the uncomfortable plastic chair and looked around for something new to do. In the hour that he'd been here, he'd finished his school work, read the book he'd gotten in Library, and thumbed through an old copy of Sports Illustrated. The rest of the magazines in the rack were for girls from what Parker could tell from the covers.

"I'm bored," he grumpily informed Bones as his legs swung back and forth aimlessly. His stomach reminded him he'd missed lunch so he added, "And hungry."

"Did you pack a lunch today?" his dad's fiancée wanted to know.

"Nah," Parker shook his head, "I usually buy."

"We can go to the cafeteria if you'd like," she offered, standing in the funny way she did now that she was pregnant.

He nodded enthusiastically, glad to be doing anything but sitting in the ER waiting room one second longer. Of course just as they were about to leave, a nurse at the desk called for Dr. Brennan and they followed her back beyond the double doors.

Dad was back there but Parker didn't see any sign of his mom. From the adults' conversation that he could pick up on, Mom was done getting stitched up and wasn't dying. That was all he really needed to know.

"Can I still get food?" he asked, tugging at the sleeve of his dad's suit jacket to get his attention. "Bones was gonna take me."

"He missed lunch," Bones explained to Dad, "and I must admit to being hungry as well."

Parker wasn't sure why adults always thought it was bad to admit to being hungry but at the moment he was good with anything that got him food faster.

"I'm starving, Dad," he pled his case.

"I'll take him," Bones told Parker's dad. "Go be with Rebecca and we'll meet you there."

Dad okayed her plan to Parker's relief and the two of them set out once again for the cafeteria.

"Does my dad still love Mom?" Parker wanted to know as they shared the biggest plate of fries they could order.

"He cares for your mother," Bones said without hesitation, "and he loves you very much and doesn't wish for you to grow up without her."

"Is Mom going to die?" he was pretty sure she wasn't but knew Bones would be the one to give him the straight dump.

"I haven't seen her medical chart but your father doesn't seem concerned, nor do the doctors," she told him. She must've picked up on the fact that he was still a little nervous because she followed that up by saying, "If it would make you feel better I can look at the x-rays myself and tell you."

He nodded and she returned the nod and they both returned to their food. When they got back the to the ER, Dad was there waiting for them and led them back to the room Mom was resting in. Bones waved, but hung back as Parker ran forward to gently give Mom a hug. Her leg was in a big brace-thingy and her face almost matched the color of the sheets but she smiled widely and squeezed Parker just as hard as she ever had.

Parker felt like a little boy as he climbed up on her bed and snuggled beside her, but he didn't care, and his smile only widened when he saw Bones sneak out of the room with Mom's chart. Above him, his mom and dad were arguing about whether or not Mom should've been in Anacostia to begin with. Unlike when Dad and Bones argued, their voices had more of an edge so Parker tuned them out and kept his eyes on the door for Bones to return.

When she did, he noticed that her face looked much more worried than it had when she'd left. He felt a little twist in his gut that only got worse once Bones started explaining what she'd found on the x-ray. Mom wasn't okay. She could die. And Bones had probably just saved her life.

The doctors came in just minutes after Bones went to show them what she'd found and the trio was chased from the room with only a few seconds for Parker to give Mom one last hug and say goodbye. When they got out into the hall, Captain Fantastic was there, looking for Mom, so Dad and Bones filled him in on what was going on.

"Do you want to stay here?" Dad asked him. "Bones and I should get back to work."

Parker thought about the long wait he'd already had on the uncomfortable chairs and made a face.

"You may come to the lab and stay with my father," Bones offered. "If you'd like."

That sounded _much _better to Parker and he quickly accepted before anyone could change their minds.


	15. Shades of Boothy

Chapter 15: Shades of Boothy

Once Parker was settled at the Jeffersonian with Max, Booth and Brennan headed back to the Hoover to interrogate Russell Leonard. They had to avoid Sweets, who was far too curious about Rebecca's shooting and why Booth had come back to work so soon. When he started to imply Booth was avoiding talking with his son about how serious the situation had been, Brennan quickly shut the psychologist down and all but plowed him over, dragging Booth along with her like a puppy.

As it turned out, Leonard lawyered up before they could get anything useful out of him. They stayed in Booth's office, going over what they had in the case so far until the call came from Hodgins and Arastoo that they might have found the murder weapon. As there was nothing for him to do, Booth decided he would go with her and hang out at the lab; maybe spend some time with Parker.

"You're doing a fine job handling the situation," she reassured him as they entered her office.

"I hate that he's so calm about this being a shooting," Booth sighed, sinking down onto the couch. He looked over at her, "Do you know how many times he's come to visit me after I've been shot, Bones? Do you know how much it kills me that he thinks it's a normal thing?"

"He doesn't think it's normal," she soothed, sitting beside him and taking his larger hand in hers.

"He was more worried about eating than about seeing her," protested Booth, shaking his head.

"He's a boy. A Booth boy," she gave a small smile. "You eat when you're upset, not to mention he'd missed lunch at school and he'd been waiting patiently in the waiting room for what must've seemed to him to be a long time." She waited for his grudging nod before adding, "He was very concerned for Rebecca in the cafeteria. In fact it was at his insistence that I examined Rebecca's x-rays. He trusted that I would make sure she was alright."

"Smart kid," Booth gave her a lopsided grin, then looked at her earnestly. "Thanks, Bones. For saving her. I don't-" his voice grew thick with emotion. "Hell, Becca and I have had our ups and downs but I would never wish for my son to grow up without his mom."

It was one of those moments where Brennan wished she could be more eloquent, or at least empathetic, but she could think of nothing to say, so she simply held his hand and waited for him to regain his emotional equilibrium. Fortunately he did so just before Hodgins and Arastoo burst into her office, eager to recount their findings at the park.

No trace of the earlier self-doubt was evident as Booth questioned them about the dumpster and the surrounding area. Brennan took possession of trash picker, promising to get it to Hodgins for full analysis after she'd finished comparing it to the puncture wounds on the victim.

**B&B&B&B&B&B**

"This is super cool," Booth poked at the blue skeleton replica on the table with his finger. "I mean, I thought Angela's hologram machine was good, but this is amazing! You squints get the coolest toys!"

"They aren't toys," she frowned, then frowned at the bones she had been staring at for the past hour.

"Problem?"

"Cam's not going to like this," she told him.

"Oh, not what I wanted to hear," the pathologist in question winced as she strode through the door. She gestured at the pick, "Is that not our weapon."

Brennan hesitated for a moment, then began explaining both to Cam and Booth that while she could definitively connect the weapon to the murder, she couldn't connect it to a specific murderer. Meaning they weren't that much further along than they'd been when they'd started. Cam wasn't thrilled, but she understood. They hadn't even been able to lift any prints from the plastic sheeting that had been found at the scene.

Booth saw the light-bulb come on in his partner's eyes a second before they went wide and she began talking fast, pushing past them determinedly. Angela shot him a look as they walked up to the knot of squints and he shrugged, having no idea what Brennan was up to but having a good feeling that this was going to be the break in the case that they needed. He smirked when she picked Hodgins to be the victim; smirked wider when the bug man was swallowed up by the plastic.

The little group looked on stunned, then like a flash the missing pieces of the puzzle clicked together and they all began talking over each other, clamoring excitedly. Booth was the first to ask how they were planning on lifting a six-month old palm print from the real plastic, but he could see the gears turning in the squints' minds and knew they'd figure it out. He was so confident of that fact, he announced he was leaving the problem to them and was going to check in on Parker and Max. They could get him when they needed him.

It wasn't too long before Booth spotted a curly head of hair coming toward Max's side classroom.

"Gold," the bug man said gleefully. "We need gold."

"I'm fresh out," Booth quipped.

That was enough to make Hodgins elaborate, "Gold dust will bond with the atoms from the hand-print and give us a clear image." He turned to Parker, "Would you like to come watch?"

The boy's head bobbed up and down and after being given specific instructions as to what he was and was not allowed to touch, Hodgins led them all down the hall and into the room where he had everything set up. Cam was there too and after wondering out loud why it had to be _gold_ she nodded for him to pour it in. Five sets of eyes watched in wonder as the dust swirled, then began bonding to the plastic. A perfect palm print materialized, eliciting a gasp from Parker.

"That was SO cool!" he breathed, turning to stare at Hodgins in awe. "Can you do that again?"

The bug man chuckled and shook his head, "One per customer."

"Okay," Parker shrugged. "So what happens next?"

Booth explained that they'd need to scan the print and run it through the computer to see if they could get a match. Parker was brimming with questions and the four adults did the best they could to answer them, while keeping the terms on his level. Meanwhile, the scanner was moving over the hand-print and within a few minutes, the computer had informed them that the print didn't match anything in the criminal database.

"Now what?" Parker seemed disappointed. "Is the bad guy gonna get away with it after all that?"

"Nope," Booth grinned and flipped his poker chip up in the air, catching it deftly. "Because I know who did it, and I'm going to go trick her into telling me."

Parker begged to be allowed to go with Booth and Brennan to the Hoover to watch the final showdown and was placated only when Angela assured him they could tap into the Hoover security feed so he could watch from the safety of the lab. Of course, it didn't have audio, but the way it played out, Parker didn't need to hear anything, and he declared it was awesome getting to watch his dad and "Dr. Bones" outwit the woman responsible.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

An hour later, Parker was slightly disappointed when only Brennan returned from the Hoover, explaining that his father had been called away to some departmental meetings that would likely last well into the evening. Noting how unsure he looked at the turn of events, she offered to take him to the hospital to visit with his mother. This was met with overwhelming enthusiasm and a hug both for Brennan, and for baby Bean, who Parker insisted would love doing experiments with him when they were older.

After a quick stop at the gift shop for some balloons, flowers, and a special gift Parker picked out all by himself, the two of them trooped up to the room to find Rebecca resting comfortably, and much more alert than when they'd last seen her. Drew excused himself and Brennan tried to do the same, but was detained by Parker. He then proceeded to regale his mother and Brennan with a full account of what had taken place from the time they'd left the hospital up to the present.

"Sounds like you had quite the adventure," Rebecca smiled at the boy cuddling against her.

"Uh huh," he nodded vigorously. "And Dr. Bones even showed me the blue skeleton that Angela made!" His grin was wide when he declared, "I think I wanna be a squint when I grow up. They get to do awesome stuff _and_ help put bad guys away just like Dad!"

The two women exchanged a smile above the boy's curly locks, each thinking how much more amusing the scene would be had Booth been there to share the moment with them. Parker continued chattering away about all the things he'd learned and the tasks that Max had assigned him while under his care. Eventually, Rebecca interrupted him, casually asking him to go out in the hall and make sure Drew was doing okay. He asked if he could get a soda and was granted permission as long as he went with Drew.

"I think he likes your father," Rebecca smiled at Brennan when Parker had finally left with Drew in tow. "Can you thank him for me for spending the afternoon with Parker?"

"My father enjoys his company," Brennan returned the smile. "I'm sure he will tell you it was not a problem."

A wistful look crossed Rebecca's face and her eyes lingered on Brennan's engagement ring for a moment, "My folks live pretty far away and of course he's never met Seeley's, so I'm glad he has someone nearby now."

Brennan nodded, unsure of how to respond to that.

An awkward silence ensued.

Rebecca finally cleared her throat, "I, um – I want to thank you too, Temperance. For earlier. For saving my life."

"Parker asked me to look at the x-rays," Brennan confessed right away. "He and Booth were very concerned for your safety."

Rebecca's shoulders shook as she laughed, toying with the gift Parker had given her earlier, "I know. I got a safety lecture from both of them. They're both so... " She searched for a word, unable to find one.

"Boothy?" Brennan supplied with a small smirk.

"Yes," Rebecca threw back her head and laughed. "Very Boothy."

This time the silence was one of mutual admiration for the two Booth boys.

"What do you think?" Rebecca flipped her hair, donning the ridiculously large sunglasses Parker had insisted on getting her because her room had been so bright when he'd been there before.

"I think," Brennan laughed along with the other woman, putting her own glasses on, "that if Booth wishes to keep both of us safe, he will be quite busy for a long time."

"We're a handful and a half," Rebecca smirked at that. "And you know what?"

Brennan didn't so she waited for the other woman to complete the thought.

Rebecca looked at Brennan's bulging mid-section and smiled, "It would totally serve him right if he ended up with another fiercely independent woman in a few months; because that's just the way he likes 'em."


	16. Who's the Boss?

Chapter 16: Who's the Boss?

It was decided that the best thing for Rebecca's recuperation would be for Parker to stay with Booth and Brennan for a couple of weeks. Both Booth boys were excited at the prospect and seeing them happy made Brennan happy for them.

For the most part, Parker was at school while they were at work, and when school let out he suddenly found himself with several scientists who were more than eager to help with his homework. Brennan set up a small desk and chair in her office for him to work at and Max offered to let him help teach one of the younger kids' classes. Hodgins got really excited when Parker asked him if he could look through his microscope and the bug man even showed him a few math shortcuts so that long division didn't take him as long.

The best thing, though, was when Parker came in one afternoon to find the lab filled with stuff from an old, sunken ship. He knew well enough to stay out of the way and not ask too many questions, but Daisy was more than happy to tell him everything she'd done and Angela had let him sit on her couch and study while she painted. When Parker handed in his social studies report on slavery later that week his teacher was very impressed and Dr. Saroyan liked it that much she let him hand out the programs on the night the new exhibit opened.

After the ship, Parker was pretty sure that nothing cooler could happen; until the _huge_ candy bar showed up. Dad wouldn't let him go anywhere near it because apparently there had been a person inside, but he had a good enough view from Bones' office that he didn't care. He thought it was cool that chocolate bars came that big and he thought it was funny that the main chocolate guy looked a lot like Dennis Nedry from _Jurassic__ Park._ Bones had never seen that movie before so they watched it that night and she commented that the two men did look alike. At least, Parker was pretty sure that's what having "similar bone structure" meant.

The second week of Parker's stay, however, didn't start off all that great. He and Dad had stayed up late both weekend nights, eating pizza and playing Wii, so Parker was still pretty groggy when his alarm went off Monday morning. Dad had to go into work early that morning, leaving Bones to get Parker ready and off to school on time. It wouldn't have been so bad if she'd stopped at the lecture about how breakfast was the most important meal of the day, but then she kept going and told him that he wouldn't be so tired if Dad hadn't let him stay up so late. _Then_ she made him help with the breakfast dishes and told him he'd need to do some chores when they got home tonight too.

"What if I don't want to?" he challenged, not liking that she was blaming Dad for letting Parker have fun.

"It's not a question of wanting to or not," she shook her head firmly. "Part of living within a family structure is assisting with the household chores. In the third world most boys your age are expected to do far more than merely empty the trash."

"Dad never makes me do chores," Parker muttered under his breath, shoving his schoolwork in his bag as he hunted around for his jacket.

"Perhaps," she shrugged like she might believe him, "nevertheless you will need to help pick up when you get home and your father will too."

Tired and grumpy from the late night and irritated that Bones wasn't getting mad enough to change her mind Parker snatched his backpack from the couch and glared at her, "You can't make me. You're not my mom."

With that, he brushed past her, not caring that his backpack swung into the photo of the three of them, sending the frame – and a thousand fragments of shattered glass – to the floor with a crash.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

Booth returned from his early morning meeting to a flurry of text messages, mostly from Parker on the emergency phone the boy had carried since his abduction that summer. They started out just grumpy in nature, then escalated, the last one stating "I HATE BONES" in all caps. There was one from Bones letting him know that she'd dropped Parker off at school, with no indication that anything was wrong.

He fiddled with the phone for several minutes, debating whether he should call Brennan or text her. The kid had been soaking things up from her squints like a sponge for the past week, so clearly something had gone down to make Parker so mad. In his mind all of the wonderful dreams of starting this new little family that included Parker, Bones, and Bean seemed to dissolve in a puddle of insecurities.

There was no time to sort things out, however, because a call came in that a melted body had been found in a truck. He called Sweets' office to ask the kid to stop by later, then the lab to let Brennan know he was on his way, then shoved the phone in his pocket along with his sense of dread.

"Parker texted you," were the first words out of her mouth as she hauled herself into the passenger's seat.

"Yup," was all he could come up with in reply.

"He was trying to do so surreptitiously in the back seat," she explained with a shrug and a sly smile.

"Aren't you curious what he said?" Booth wondered.

"I presume it wasn't flattering as we had a difference of opinion this morning," again, she shrugged as if that didn't bother her.

"He said he hates you, Bones," Booth was growing frustrated by her nonchalance. "What did you do?"

"I resent your implication," she bristled. "I merely informed him that there would be chores to do once we got home tonight. He protested and I pointed out that part of being in a family is sharing in the chores. He argued that you don't make him do chores and I remained firm that we would all be doing chores tonight. He informed me that I'm not his mother and therefore can't force him to do anything."

Booth's stomach dropped when he realized Parker had finally played the mom card, but as much as he wanted to know more, they were almost at the scene and Bones still hadn't been briefed. Quickly he gave her a run-down of what to expect, enjoying the more normal banter over figures of speech as they arrived.

Neither of them were at the top of their game, with Brennan trying hard to crack jokes that went over like a lead balloon and Booth being slightly more testy and short with her than usual. He dropped her and the not-melted, melted bones off at the lab, promised to drop by later, and headed back to the Hoover.

A couple of hours later he knew the tension was amping up between him and Bones when she sent Angela over to him to give him the VIN number results rather than bringing them herself.

"Agent Booth," Sweets was there to greet him almost as soon as the artist left, "I hear you asked for me."

Booth groaned, this was going to be a very, _very_ long day after all.


	17. The Straight Dump

Chapter 17: The Straight Dump

"So lemme get this straight," Booth snuck a glance at his partner as they drove, "you're NOT mad at me for earlier?"

"As I told you," she said, "sending Angela to the Hoover had nothing to do with the situation between you, Parker and I."

"Okay," he dragged the word out just long enough to show he didn't quite believe her.

"If you must know," Brennan said with a long-suffering sigh, "Angela was in one of her baby planning moods and I needed a respite."

"That bad?" he smirked.

"You have no idea," she rolled her eyes.

They found a place to park at the high school where Kathy Lyford worked and while Booth talked with the widow, Brennan attempted to engage the roomful of juvenile delinquents in conversation. It was easier than she thought, but much to Brennan's dismay she was unable to procure any information from the boy with the red cap before he fled the classroom. Apparently Booth wasn't able to get much out of Kathy either, and had decided to take her back to the Hoover and turn Sweets loose on her.

"Do you think he'll be able to glean anything information from her?" Brennan wanted to know as they sat in Booth's office going over the evidence they'd amassed so far.

"It's worth a shot," he shrugged.

"Have you heard anything more from Parker?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"He's not allowed to use his phone at school so, no," Booth shook his head.

"Oh," the syllable was so quiet Booth wasn't sure he heard it at first but her face told him more than enough.

"Look, Bones, we'll sort this all out, okay?" he came around from his desk to rest a hand on her arm. "I love you, Bean loves you," he reached a hand out to caress the small bump, "and Parker loves you too."

"I expected him to rebel at some point. Pre-adolescents are known for that," Brennan met his eyes, then dropped hers. "What I didn't anticipate was how unpleasant his harsh words would feel."

The dewy-eyed look Booth had come to associate with her pregnancy hormones glistened in her eyes so he held her for a long moment, then suggested the grab lunch while they waited for Sweets. Lunch traffic was heavy so they decided to walk instead. By the time they neared the diner, her mood had shifted and Booth's had become more contemplative.

"It's natural for you to be nervous about Parker and I getting along and the negative effects that his hatred could have on our family," she said conversationally.

Booth nodded mutely.

"If we were in Europe, boarding school would be an acceptable option in a worst-case scenario," she added with a twinkle in her eye. "Though I doubt you would want that."

"Um, no," he chuckled along with her. "Any other suggestions?"

She shrugged, "Parker was bound to assert his independence from me and question my role of authority in his life. We should maintain a united front and be sure to be upfront and honest with him. Establishing regular chores would be a good start."

He wanted to know what she was inferring by that but Sweets came up behind them and interrupted, shifting the conversation over to the case. For the next hour, Booth mulled over the situation, no closer to figuring out a solution than he had been before.

"Hey," he sighed to the one person involved who he hadn't talked to yet, "I guess you know what's going on?"

"Got a text this morning," Rebecca nodded. "Come on in."

Booth was glad to see Becca moving around with greater ease. He asked about her leg and she asked about the baby and for a minute or two they simply sat and said nothing. A heavy sigh escaped Booth's lips and he leaned a little further back on the couch.

"It's really not that bad, you know?" Becca informed him.

"Our son hates my fiancee," Booth looked at his ex like she was nuts. "How is that not a bad thing?"

"He was angry," she waved it off. "Hell if I sulked as much as you every time he told me that I'd never want to get out of bed."

"Be serious," his eyes got hard.

"I am," she said earnestly. "Seeley, kids say stupid things when they're mad and especially when you try to make them do something they don't want to do. Honestly, I'm shocked this is the first time it's come up."

"That's what Bones said," he crossed his arms in front of his chest wondering if this was a woman thing.

"Smart girl," Rebecca's lips quirked up. "But I bet she didn't tell you what I'm going to." Booth's eyebrows rose but he kept quiet, waiting for her to go on. "You brought this on yourself." She raised a hand to his protesting gasp, "I'm not saying Parker was in the right here, because he wasn't and we can figure out how to deal with that in a bit, but this could've been headed off a long time ago."

If she hadn't been sitting there, leg still in an immobilizer reminding him how close they'd come to losing her Booth would've stalked out. As it was he sat and stewed then challenged her, "Seriously?"

She didn't miss a beat, "When was the last time you parented him, Seeley, honestly? When has he had chores to do at your place, or rules to keep? Do you think I let him sit around here and play video games and eat pizza and chips all night?"

"So I'm a crappy dad 'cause I let my kid have fun?" Booth's blood pressure was spiking.

"No," she was just as firm about this. "No, you're a great dad when it comes to teaching him the big life stuff. You could've walked away from him altogether like a lot of guys would've, but you didn't. You stuck around and coached t-ball and hockey and all the other things good dads do for their sons."

"But?" he was somewhat softened by her praise.

"It's the everyday parenting things," she was gentler this time, shaking her head. "I don't know, maybe it's my fault for not letting you have him more often, but Seeley the truth of the matter is most of the time your more of his friend than his dad. Yeah, Parker needs great, fun memories with you and I want that for him – I really do. But he needs to learn responsibility and about living in a family. He needs to know what the rules are so that he knows certain behavior isn't allowed.

"This thing with you and Dr. Brennan," she smiled softly now. "I think it's great. She loves you, she loves Parker, and now we know she's not afraid to stand her ground against him. It's not going to be easy for Parker at first to figure out the new role she has in his life, just like it wasn't easy for him when Drew and I first got serious."

"It wasn't?" Booth sounded surprised.

"_After_ he stopped calling him Captain Fantastic all the time?" Becca laid the sarcasm on thick, though there was no meanness in her tone.

Booth had the good sense to blush and look away briefly, then asked, "So, what do I do? He asked if he could come back here tonight."

"Make him stay at your place," she advised. "Let him know none of us are thrilled with him giving Temperance lip. She's going to be his step-mom eventually and the sooner he knows he has to mind her the better. Decide on some rules and chores he's going to have to abide by when he's at your place. You don't have to be a dictator, just give him some responsibility."

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

When he finally went back to the office he dove right back into the case until three. He called his partner and picked her up, giving her a rough summary of Becca's talk as they drove over to the school. He then let her tell him exactly what had happened, from her point of view, that morning. They pulled into the parking lot and walked hand-in-hand up to the school.

Parker was on the basketball court with some of his friends when he spotted them coming toward him and immediately he turned his back and kept on playing.

"Time to go, Parks," Booth called out as casually as he could.

Still, the boy ignored them so Booth repeated himself, this time with a little more edge in his voice. This time, Parker got the gist, mumbled a farewell to his friends, and slouched his way over to the waiting couple, snatching his backpack none too gently on his way. A stalemate of silence ensued.

"How was school?" Booth finally asked.

"Fine," Parker sounded bored.

They made a few more attempts to draw Parker out of his funk before they reached home but were unsuccessful.

"Make sure you empty the trash, son," Booth called to Parker's retreating back as he headed for his room.

"I'm not going to," Parker whirled around to face his dad. "And you can't make me."


	18. A Mile in Her Shoes

Chapter 18: A Mile in Her Shoes

Parker knew he'd crossed a line as soon as the words spilled from his mouth and waited for the hammer to fall. He watched his dad's jaw clench, then release as Dr. Bones laid a hand on his arm. The couple exchanged a look and Parker felt a surge of anger and resentment that sent him turning on his heel back toward his room.

He almost succeeded in slamming the door shut behind him, but Dad caught it easily and joined Parker in the room before closing it gently the rest of the way. The boy did his best to ignore his dad, emptying his backpack and sitting down on the very edge of his bed, unsurprised when Dad sat down beside him.

"Are you going to spank me?" Parker figured it was better to know ahead of time and Dad's eerie silence was killing him.

The older Booth's face paled for a micro-second before he shook his head vigorously adding, "Doesn't mean I'm a fan of this attitude, though."

Parker had the good sense to hang his head, shamed by the disappointment he heard in his father's voice.

"What's up, Bub?" Dad nudged his shoulder. "What happened between you and Bones this morning?"

He figured his dad knew full-well what had gone down, but at least it sounded like he was willing to listen to Parker's side of the story, so he began, "She made me wash all the dishes after breakfast and then said when I got home I had to do the trash too."

"_All_ of the dishes?" Dad sounded skeptical.

Parker shook his head the tiniest bit, remembering too late that his dad interrogated people for a living.

"So Bones had you help clean up the breakfast _she_ made for you and then asked you to take out the trash after school?"

"She said we had to clean up the living room," Parker tried to make his case. "Like she was punishing us for having fun last night."

"Did she say that?" Dad asked, sounding more concerned than annoyed, which relieved Parker.

"No, but she wasn't too happy, and then when I told her I never have to do chores here she didn't believe me," Parker threw up his hands. "And now you're on _her _side and that just sucks!"

"I'm not on anyone's side," came the response.

Parker rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, still not entirely convinced his dad wasn't just feeding him a line, "I heard what you said."

B&B&B&B&B

Deciding to give Booth and Parker some space, Brennan made her way to the kitchen and began contemplating what to make for dinner. There were no loud shouts coming from Parker's room which was a good thing, but as time dragged on she wondered what the end result would be.

"Hey," she sensed Booth's presence behind her a fraction of a second before his voice sounded softly in her ear and he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Hey," she replied in kind, setting down the knife and turning in his arms to face him. "Are you alright?"

He offered a weak smile and a shrug that did nothing to convince her all had been resolved before half-whispering, "He heard us."

Brennan's nose scrunched up as she attempted to recall and conversations they'd had that would impact the boy, but she could think of none.

"Last night," Booth told her. "When we were sitting on the couch after we shooed Parker off to bed. He got up to go to the bathroom and heard what we were talking about."

"How much you love our family and how pleased you are with your life at this juncture in time?" she was still confused as to what was so damaging about that.

"Yeah, well, apparently he only heard part of it," Booth released a heavy sigh. "The part about you and Bean."

"And how complete your life is with us in it?" she hazarded a guess as understanding dawned.

"Yup," Booth nodded and after hesitating for only a fraction of a second added, "and he kinda thinks you were punishing him for having fun last night by making him do chores this morning."

"I can appreciate how it must seem that way, however that was not my intention," she told him.

"You know that," Booth gently traced her jawline, "and _I_ know that."

There was a soft click from the hall as Parker's door opened and he shuffled into the kitchen. His eyes were only on his dad when he asked, "When's dinner?"

"In approximately twenty minutes," Brennan answered him.

A nod was the only acknowledgment Parker gave, but the two adults were pleasantly surprised when he picked up the trash can and turned toward the living room. Both of them stood stock still in the kitchen, listening to the rustling sounds of the trash bag as it was filled. The buzzer on the stove sounded, refocusing Brennan's attention back to the food.

The tension was palpable as the trio sat down to eat and while Parker ate every last bite on his plate and even helped clear the table afterward he said nothing to either of them.

"Let me try," Brennan offered when the boy shut himself back up in his room.

"Bones-" Booth protested, looking a mixture of concern and worry on his face.

"I've faced down members of death squads and violent gang leaders," she smirked. "Ten year old boys don't intimidate me."

There was still a wary look in his eyes, but she ignored it, giving him a brief peck on the cheek before turning up the hallway. Retrieving an object from the back of her closet she moved to Parker's room and rapped on the door three times before opening it.

"May I come in?" she asked, trying to act as if nothing lay between them.

Parker shrugged, resigning himself to the inevitability that she was not really planning on leaving, then turned back to focus intently on his homework. Brennan said nothing, but settled herself on Parker's bed and observed him as he worked. It didn't take long to determine he wasn't doing any real work at all.

"Change is difficult," she finally told him. "Especially within a family dynamic."

If the words reached him he didn't react, but rather remained focused on the desk in front of him; back ramrod straight in his chair.

She released a small, sad sigh before continuing, "My own family dynamic changed when I was fifteen; not that much older than you. Did your father ever tell you that?"

Parker still didn't turn around but he did shake his head and she knew she'd successfully piqued his natural curiosity.

"My parents made some very poor choices and were forced to leave my brother and I," she told him, her hands slowly rubbing the new life that grew within her. "Then Russ left as well."

"They just left?" Parker was clearly shocked as he turned to face her. "But you were just a kid."

She nodded sadly, the weight of some of the old hurt settling in her chest.

They sat in silence for a long moment before Parker got up the courage to ask, "What happened then?"

"I was placed in the foster care system," she met his eyes. "Here."

"What's this?" the boy's face was a mask of confusion as he took the worn object from her.

"A list of all of the houses I lived in before being emancipated from the system," she replied, unable to stop her voice from thickening with emotion.

Parker turned the shoe over in his hand, his eyes widening at the long list. He looked up at Brennan, then back down at the shoe, "Were they nice?"

"Some were. Others were not," she replied honestly. She waited until she caught his eye again, "Parker, your father will not leave you once this new baby comes." The boy ducked his head but she went on, "He could never do that, and I believe that despite your current insecurity you know this to be true."

"He said he's never been happier," Parker's jaw trembled.

"He hasn't," Brennan affirmed, "and if you'd come out just a few moments earlier you would've also heard him including you in that statement. You would've heard him tell me how excited he is to see you become an older brother, just like he is an older brother."

"Yeah?" he looked up to meet her eyes.

"Have I ever lied to you?" she queried.

His blond curls shook, then he speared her with a look of his own, "Do you love my dad?"

"I do," the truth fell easily from her lips.

"When are you guys gonna get married?" he wanted to know next.

"I'm not certain."

"Will I have to share my room?"

"No," she shook her head, "the baby will sleep with us."

"Are you and Dad going to move?"

"Possibly," she nodded, "though that topic has not yet been broached."

"Okay," Parker again looked down at the list of names on the old shoe. "Do you know anything about the Civil War?"

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Booth had no clue what Brennan had gotten when she disappeared into their room before confronting Parker but he prayed that whatever it was it would work. Silence met his ears as he strained to pick up their voices but any conversation was being held far too low for him to hear. Too nervous to sit still, he flipped on ESPN and started cleaning up the rest of the stuff from dinner.

Fifteen minutes later they still hadn't come out and he began pacing the floor nervously, wondering if he should go in and do some damage control. The soft click of the latch brought him to a screeching halt.

"Hey, Dad!" Parker waved, far more cheerful than he'd been at all today. "Who's winning?"

Booth shrugged, barely aware of who was playing let along winning.

"Me and Bones are gonna go out tomorrow after school," Parker informed him, lazily plopping himself on the couch.

"To the zoo?" was all Booth could think to ask.

"Nah, to the museum for my history report," came the answer. Parker rolled his eyes, "It's not like I'm four anymore, Dad."

**A/N: I'm sorry it's been so long since I updated this. Two weeks ago I snapped my fibula and my muse kinda snapped with it. Fortunately I had some chapters saved up in my other fic, Nobody Knows Me, but I really could not get the muse back on track for this one until today. Many thnx to my brain twin. She knows who she is and how much I need her to bounce ideas off of.**

**Hoping to not go so long between updates now but reviews never hurt!**

**Gum :)**


	19. Ergo, Ipso Facto, Colombo, Oreo

**I've been a bit busy lately but hoping to get back on track with this one and "She&Him." I absolutely LOVED the finale and finally know how to end "She & Him!" If you want to see what I've been up to visit the "Home Page" listed in my profile, then come and join us for the summer Bones projects!**

**_Gum :)_**

Chapter 19: Ergo, Ipso Facto, Colombo, Oreo

Over the next twenty-four hours Parker's coolness seemed to thaw and the trip to the Civil War exhibit helped even more. Booth breathed an inward sigh of relief when Brennan and Parker entered the diner after their outing, their faces alight with smiles as Parker began pouring out the new facts he'd learned. In the end, Brennan was declared "pretty cool" and the trio managed to share their first tension-free meal in days.

There were still a few fits and spurts as Booth and his son worked out a chore plan they could both agree on, and Parker voiced some pointed questions related to what the living accommodations would be once the baby arrived and whether he and his dad would still get time together on their own. Booth did his best to answer the questions honestly and point out all of the positives that came with being a big brother.

He was rewarded with the small feeling of satisfaction when Rebecca called to let them know she was ready for Parker to come home, and the boy balked, begging for more time with his dad and Dr. Bones. Brennan, feeling sympathy both for Booth – who was also reluctant to relinquish the precious one-on-one time he and Parker were enjoying – and Rebecca – who missed her son – decided that perhaps the best way to ease into the transition would be to host a dinner party.

In the end, Hodgins and Angela were the only other couple who could attend, but Parker seemed to be okay with the smaller party and spent the whole day bouncing between Booth and Brennan looking for ways he could help out until finally Booth took him to the park so Brennan could prepare the meal in peace.

This was just the respite she needed, she thought, slipping off the dolphin ring Booth had gotten for her down in Virginia, along with her engagement ring and her mother's ring as she carefully rinsed the vegetables. A wry smile curved her lips as the baby within her squirmed, reminding her that her days of quiet solitude were numbered. Soft jazz played in the background as the meal cooked and each place-setting was laid out with scientific precision.

"Wow!" Parker breathed, tumbling through the door and coming to a halt beside the dining room table.

"Looks great, Bones," added Booth, dropping a kiss onto her cheek. "Smells even better. I'm starving!"

"You can eat when it's done," she smiled, batting his hand away from the food and wrinkling her nose slightly. "Both of you should wash up right now. You've perspired profusely."

A familiar cocky grin split Parker's face as he shook his head, "Guys don't perspire, Bones. We sweat!"

He proceeded to prove his point by lifting his arms to show her the small wet spots under his armpits and Booth tousled the boy's hair and told him to go wash up for dinner. The adults shared a chuckle and another kiss before Brennan shooed him out of the kitchen so she could finish.

By the time their guests had arrived, both Booth boys were clean and eager to eat. Rebecca was amused to find her son in a black, button-down shirt when he answered the door and ushered them in, but understood why when she spotted Booth wearing a matching one. The tough lawyer allowed herself a small sigh as she watched father and son fuss over Brennan and help her bring the food in. This very domestic life suited Seeley perfectly and she was glad he had found someone who accepted and loved Parker as well.

The meal could not have gone more smoothly. Compliments were made to the chef, who gave an anthropological, yet oddly personal, explanation for each of the dishes before them. Parker loved that she had prepared the roasted potatoes he'd come to like more than french fries over his stay and both Booth boys cheered when she announced there was an apple pie from Sid warming in the oven for later.

"Hey, Mom, check it out!" Parker said with a grin before turning to Brennan, "Will you tell us about the chicken, Bones?"

Angela, Hodgins, and Booth all exchanged a knowing look while Rebecca and Drew listened with rapt attention as Brennan began analyzing the gutted chicken in front of them; unsure if they were supposed to feel queasy or amazed.

"That was..." Rebecca groped for words.

"I know!" Parker gratefully cut her off. "Isn't Bones awesome?"

Any answer was cut short as four cell phones rang in succession.

"That means somebody besides just the chicken was killed," Parker dutifully explained to his mother.

**B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B**

The brisk October air stood in stark contrast to the cozy apartment gathering as Booth, Brennan, Angela, and Hodgins arrived at the scene to find Cam already there and shepherding the FBI tech team.

"If a tree falls in Woodland..." Hodgins quipped as they approached the mammoth roots that towered over them.

Everyone ignored him and Cam brought them up to speed on how the body had been discovered and what she thought had uprooted the tree in the first place. The three scientists took turns exchanging facts before Angela and Hodgins spread out to take pictures and gather surrounding evidence while Booth, Brennan, and Cam moved in for an up close look at the tree itself.

It was the most bizarre sight Booth had seen in a while. White bone lay enmeshed with the roots and he knew without asking his partner was going to demand they haul the whole tree back. He allowed himself a small smile when she confirmed his assumptions, though he could hear a couple of techs behind him groaning already. The dispatcher on the other end sounded none too pleased to be called out in the middle of the night to haul a tree so Booth didn't feel a tad guilty for his equally sarcastic retort.

Below him Cam and Brennan were voicing their observations and while Booth knew he could do the metric-to-foot conversion if he wanted to it was easier to give a blank look and wait for the answer to be supplied for him.

"Right, so basically the same height and weight as you, huh, Bones?" he gave a grin, praying she wouldn't castrate him for implying how much weight she'd put on. Pregnant women, in his experience, were mercurial that way.

"Oh!" she exclaimed instead.

"Oh, what?" Booth pressed.

But she said nothing, instead getting one of those far-away looks in her eyes as she gazed intently at something in the tree in front of her. He knew that look well enough to know he wouldn't be getting anything out of her for awhile. Instead, he kept a loose eye on the scene around them, making sure that her stringent protocols were being followed so he wouldn't catch it later.

Another forty-five minutes passed until Brennan announced they were ready for the crew to take the tree. The surly driver who'd been tapped for the late-night job was more than happy to get a move on and gave Booth an extra fierce scowl when the FBI agent warned him to get the job done right; not just fast.

"This isn't the way to the lab," Brennan frowned as Booth pointed the SUV home instead.

"Nope," Booth chucked a thumb toward the back seat where Angela was curled into Hodgins, "it's time for good little anthropologists to grab some shut-eye."

"Cam is expecting us," Brennan sulked.

"She's expecting you to go home," he corrected, not bothering to mention that he had told the pathologist that's where they were going after he'd spotted his partner yawning repeatedly at the crime scene.

"I'm not tired."

"Bean needs her beauty sleep."

"What if 'she' is a boy?"

"50/50 chance I'm right."

"Or wrong. Or our child could be a hermaphrodite."

Hodgins snort of laughter from the back seat reminded them that they had company and Brennan said nothing more, but stewed the rest of the way back to the apartment.

"Hey," Booth said softly an hour later as Brennan moved restlessly between the kitchen and dining room, cleaning up from the aborted meal. "You okay, Bones?"

Her lack of response made his concerned brow furrow more deeply, "What's got you so worked up?"

She didn't answer him then.

And the next morning when he rolled out of bed, she was gone.


	20. Handful of Dust

Handful of Dust

"Scale of one to ten, where's she at?" Booth asked without preamble as he entered Angela's office.

"Good morning to you too, Booth," she replied without looking up, "and yes, today is the first day I haven't wanted to hurl every other minute, thanks for asking."

"Bones didn't talk to me at all last night and I never even saw her this morning," he blew out a long breath and counted to ten before going on. "Sorry, Ange. I'm glad you're not sick. Did Bones' gargonzola beans do the trick?"

"Apparently," the artist graced him with a smile. "Bren's shaken up by this one, Booth. The victim was wearing a dolphin ring exactly like hers and she kept talking about how similar they look. You didn't get that ring custom made did you?"

He shook his head.

"Okay, well, then it's just one of those things," Angela shrugged. "Though good luck convincing her of that."

"Bones is strong," he said confidently. "Where is she now?"

"If she's not on the platform or her office, then she's probably with Cam," was Angela's guess.

"Right," Booth palmed the poker chip deep in his pocket. "Thanks, Ange."

The two exchanged nods and he strode out, noting that the light in Brennan's office was out and that there were voices now coming from the platform. She and Hodgins were talking about the rings on the tree and though he couldn't see them with the tree in the way, he breathed easier hearing the professional tone in her voice.

"Whatcha got for me, Bones?" he asked, swiping his card and bounding up the steps in one smooth movement.

She regarded him for a fraction of a second then informed him, "It appears from the tree rings the victim died last November. And she may have been a medical professional."

"Right," he jotted a few notes down, then shoved the cards and his hula pen back in his pocket. "You ready for some grub?"

"Larvae?" she questioned, raising a speculative eyebrow.

"Ew," he wrinkled his nose, "no! Grub - Bones - you know, food?"

"Why didn't you just say that?" she rolled her eyes.

"I-" he decided to stop while he was ahead and threw an arm around her shoulder instead. "Forget it, let's get you and Bean some food before she starves to death."

"Technically, she would deplete my body of its resources, starving me to death before she expired," Brennan said conversationally.

"Cheery, Bones," he grunted.

"The odds of that happening are statistically low given our social status and lifestyle," she assured him, subtly leaning into his arm a bit further as they exited the lab.

A smile curved on his lips as they continued chatting and walking toward the diner; especially when her arm came around his back, her hand settling on his belt as if it were the most natural movement in the world. He could hear the fatigue in her voice and feel it in the way she walked, but he let it be for the time and enjoyed her company.

One large salad, a jumbo burger, and two plates of stolen fries later they turned from casual personal conversation back to the case.

"So medical professional, huh?" Booth asked, leaning back in his seat.

She nodded, "Most likely a surgeon."

Booth pulled out his cards, scanning the list of names and professions he'd written down before heading to the lab, "Surgeon by the name of Lauren Eames disappeared last November. Metro looked into it back then but the case went cold."

"Surgeons don't just 'disappear' Booth," her forehead creased with concern. "Someone had to have been looking for her! They had to have known something was wrong!"

"Her boss filed the missing persons report," recalled Booth. "Maybe she worked a lot so there was no one outside of work to miss her?"

Brennan's face grew a shade paler at the casual comment and she hurriedly shoved the last fry in her mouth, then suggested Booth call the boss in for questioning.

"Hey," he called softly, catching her hand across the table before she could stand. "What's going on, Bones? Why is this case spooking you so much?"

"I'm not 'spooked,'" she insisted in a voice that proved to him she was. "I'm not."

"Okay," he backed off in tone, but kept his hand supportively on hers. "Is this about the ring?"

Her frown deepened and she drew her hand back sharply, "Angela should not have told you about that. I wasn't withholding evidence. I was just... curious."

"I got it at Khols," he told her, hoping that would ease whatever her genius brain was making of the situation.

The lines on her face smoothed momentarily and while they didn't fully fade, it was enough to ease his own worries for the moment. She was locking up her feelings tighter than a clam shell, though, and he made a silent vow with himself to keep a close eye on her. Without addressing the matter any further, he pulled out his phone and called Charlie to pull Lauren Eames' file and get her boss into the Hoover.

B&B&B&B&BB&B&B&B

Brennan thought that talking with Dr. Eames' supervisor would settle the unease that had pervaded her mind since last night. Instead, her disquiet only grew, snaking itself around her like a thick, wet blanket on a cold day.

The striking similarities between herself and Lauren Eames had not ended with their physical make-up or their taste in jewelry. This woman's work ethic was the same as hers; her drive was the same; the way she was viewed by her peers and interns was the same. Even Booth commented on it.

"Lauren didn't have time for a personal life," the man told them.

Could the same be said of Brennan? Had the same thing been said of her by her peers?

Booth and Dr. Gadh were discussing a possible love interest, but Brennan only had eyes for the box of effects that had been set on Booth's desk.

"What are these, please?" she inquired.

"Dr. Eames' case files," Gadh replied. "She dictated them for transcription. I thought maybe if you heard her voice..."

The last thing Brennan wanted to do was hear the woman's voice so she cut him off brusquely, "Why? It's the content that matters, not the tone of voice."

Taken aback but not fully affronted the man explained, "Lauren was the best cardiac surgeon on the Eastern Seaboard."

"I find that hard to believe," Brennan frowned, still unable to grasp how such a woman's disappearance could go so wholly unnoticed.

Dr. Gadh questioned her and she replied more feebly than she'd wanted to. Fortunately, Booth understood what she meant and was able to more fully articulate it than she was at the moment. Understanding dawned on the other man's face.

"'I will show you fear in a handful of dust,'" he said with mystic softness. "T.S. Eliot. We don't actually fear death; we fear that...that no one will notice our absence; that we will disappear without a trace."

Deep within her womb, Brennan's unborn child kicked, driving home the point and she nodded sincerely, "That sounds correct."

The room was silent and rather than face either man, Brennan turned back to the box and picked up a file folder. The face that stared back at her chilled her to the core.

"What is this?" she demanded.

"Dr. Eames' photo ID," Gadh gave her an odd look as alarm filled her eyes. "I - I really must get back to the hospital."

"I'll walk you to the elevator," Booth offered.

Brennan was standing stock-still, her mind unable to fathom why it appeared that Dr. Eames' photograph mirrored her own. Angela had spoken the truth when they'd discussed how generalized body types were, but this seemed clear evidence that they shared more than just the same height and weight. Unless her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Booth!" she called out to him in barely-veiled desperation just before he closed the door behind him.

"Mmm-hmm," his head turned over his shoulder until their eyes met.

Fear coiled in her stomach but she pressed on, needing to know, "Does this look like anyone to you?"

His eyes dropped to the photo she held out, glancing at it for no more than a few seconds before his head began to shake, "Um, she looks nice, but no. No one I know."

She wanted to ask if he was sure, but Booth was always sure and he never shielded her from the truth when it came to important matters. Then why did she see her own face? What sort of mental aberration was this? Was it the pregnancy? A lack of sleep? The never-ending string of coincidences between herself and the victim?

Suddenly she needed to see the bones in her lab. She needed to hold Lauren Eames' skull in her hands and determine where the tissue depth markers should be set. Brushing by Booth and once again ignoring his concerned questions, she moved into the now-empty elevator and allowed it to swallow her. Minds might play tricks at times, she admitted to herself as she plunged downward toward the building's exit, but bones? Bones never lied.


	21. Breathing Room

Breathing Room

Booth plowed through the rest of the afternoon but his mind was a few miles down the road at the Jeffersonian, wondering what was going through his partner's head. Taking cases personally wasn't new; she'd always done that despite the front she put on for the rest of the world. In fact, it was her lack of a facade that was throwing him off. Hodgins might be king of the lab but Brennan was the queen of compartmentalization and right now her emotions were spilling all over the place on this one.

The sound of someone clearing their throat snapped him out of his reverie, "You okay, Booth?"

"Just fine," he assured Sweets with a smile, shaking his head slightly to clear it. "What's up?"

"You asked me to come by and get the new case file?" the kid was trying to play it cool, Booth could tell, but there was still a shrinky look in his eyes.

"Right," Booth matched Sweets' neutral tone and rooted around the piles on his desk until he found the file. "Lauren Eames, cardiac surgeon, and according to her boss a good one. Bones took her patient logs if you need them later."

"No picture?" Sweets frowned as he perused the folder.

"Bones has that too," Booth said, then added in her defense, "you know how she and Angela like to have those to compare to the reconstruction."

Sweets nodded but still looked like he sensed something fishy and prodded, "You sure that's it?"

"The file's all there," Booth replied with a tight smile.

"Dr. Saroyan called me today," Sweets told him, switching gears abruptly. "She said Dr. Brennan withheld evidence found at the crime scene."

"I'm aware," the agent kept his emotions tightly in check, talking conversationally as if everything was normal. "She recognized it from somewhere and she did give it back. It's not like it was the murder weapon."

"No, but-"

"Don't worry about Bones," the words were both an order and a threat.

"I want to help," Sweets' plea was sincere.

"Look," Booth blew out a long breath, "Bones is a little off on this case, okay? We all see that, but the best way to help her is to help get this case wrapped up ASAP. Got it?"

The psychologist's dark curls bobbed with his head, lowering the tension in the room to a comfortable level. They exchanged a few more details about the case before Sweets excused himself, leaving Booth to his desk full of papers once again.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

There was a soft rap on Brennan's office door, which she pointedly ignored, knowing that the man on the other side of the door would let himself in. Her hypothesis was proved a moment later when the door swung quietly open, though he surprised her by moving to the couch and leaving her to her work.

"Is it late?" she asked, still focused on the work in front of her.

"It's six."

"I'm not finished yet," Brennan informed him.

"No rush," he said with a shrug, stretching out to make himself comfortable.

"Did Booth send you to keep an eye on me?" she challenged him, raising her eyes to meet his for the first time. "Because I'm fine."

"Booth's not the boss of me," her father sounded offended. "I just swung by to spend time with my baby and my grandbaby."

Brennan rolled her eyes and went back to her work, though the attempt was short-lived when another visitor strode through the door.

"Hey, Bones. Max," Booth nodded at both of them.

"She working," volunteered Max. "And fine."

"Of course she is," the men shared a grin before Booth turned to approach her desk. "Hey, Baby."

Despite her glare he proceeded to come around beside her, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek while his hand moved to stroke her protruding abdomen.

"How much longer do you need?" he questioned her softly.

"Thirty to forty-five minutes," she estimated, knowing there was still more she could do, but knowing he would insist on her eating around that time.

"Great," this time he pecked her on the lips and smiled before turning to Max. "Let's go check on the rest of the Squint Squad!"

Max looked like he was going to protest, but a well-timed glare from the agent stopped him short and he rose from the couch with a quick promise that he would be back soon. Brennan shook her head as the two most overly protective men in her life exited her office. At least in that way, she and Laura Eames differed.

Three hours and one trip to Sid's later found Booth and Brennan on their way home with an ex-con in their wake.

"You did a good thing inviting Max back for dessert," commented Booth as he drove the familiar route.

She gave a weary smile, masking her fatigue while mentally making a list of case-related items she needed to do next. The tissue markers had been completed and sent to Angela, who had entered the data jut before leaving so they would have the results in the morning and the bones had been laid out in the exam room for Brennan to examine more thoroughly in the morning. And there were the surgeon's case files that she wanted to listen to.

Over the next hour she did her best to play hostess to her father and dismiss any concern either man had for her well-being. To her relief Max didn't linger too long and Booth found a ballgame to watch, thus distracting him from pestering her. They turned in early.

Or tried to.

Booth probably would've been able to sleep just fine had his partner not tossed and turned from the moment they laid down. Around one in the morning he finally grew weary of the charade they were creating and he gently reached out to lay a hand on her.

"Hey," his voice was gravelly from disuse but low so a not to startle her.

She stilled for the first time, allowing him to draw her into the warmth of his arms. "I can't explain what I'm feeling," the admission came in a small voice.

"Is that what's keeping you up?"

Her hair brushed against his cheek, "I'm awake because I can't sleep."

"But why can't you sleep?" he pressed gently.

The silence grew between them as she attempted to sift through her jumbled thoughts until she finally concluded, "I'm having trouble being objective regarding this case."

He could tell that bothered her even more, "Did you want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure what there is to talk about," was her reply. "It would be difficult to dialogue about what I'm not entirely certain of."

"You don't get that feeling often do you?" the thought occurred to him. "I mean, you are usually sure about everything you set your mind to."

"That's correct," she nodded without a shred of pride.

He chose his next words carefully, "Okay, well, when I don't know what to do next, or when I'm unsure of myself I usually talk to someone. You know, bounce it of them and see what they think."

"An objective observer?" she attempted to frame the concept in terms she understood.

"Right," he smiled, giving an encouraging squeeze.

"Who do you talk with?" she was curious.

"Well," he hedged, thinking that really he didn't go to other people for help all that often, "Pops sometimes. Or you."

"Because we are trustworthy?" she wanted to know, recalling several of the very intimate conversations and secrets they'd shared over the years.

"Because you're family," he said instead. "That's what families do for each other."

"So I should talk with you?" again, she was more curious than anything.

"When you're ready," his thumb drew lazy circles in the soft fabric of her tank top. "I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

Just that small permission relieved her of a burden she didn't realize she was carrying. So many of the men in her previous relationships had insisted she open up to them. That she rush her thoughts and feelings for the sake of "clearing the air" or whatever term they'd employed.

"Thank you," the words slipped out unchecked, but were heartfelt. That Booth was willing to allow her the time she needed to process things in her own way meant the world to her and served as yet another proof that a long-term relationship with him could be feasible.

What his words could not do, however, was calm her mind. Instead, she was more anxious to do something to abate the chaos churning within her. Anything.

"Go to the lab," Booth's words punctuated the silence as if he could read her mind. "You know you want to."

"But you don't want me to," she pointed out. "You've been averse to my keeping late hours for years."

"You're up," he said in between yawns. "And I'm exhausted. So you go do your bone whispering thing and clear your head and I'll get enough sleep for both of us."

"That's scientifically impossible," she teased, turning in his arms to face him.

"There's my girl," a wan smile spread across his face. "Go on," he kissed her firmly. "Go figure out what happened to Lauren. I'll sneak you some coffee in the morning."

B&B&B&B&B&B

When he arrived at the Jeffersonian the next morning, a steaming mug of her favorite blend in hand, he made a beeline for her office. There were no lights coming from the door and the blinds had been drawn so he eased the door open carefully and snuck in. Sure enough, the anthropologist was sound asleep on her couch, soft snores passing through her lips.

"Why are you staring at me, Booth?" she yawned widely, teetering wildly as she tried to sit up.

"Because you're beautiful first thing in the morning," he offered a charm smile and the coffee.

"Mmmm," she inhaled the aroma deeply, savoring it then looked questioningly up at him. "You're allowing me to drink this?"

"Bones, are you or are you not the same woman that sent me a thesis paper on the urban myth of avoiding coffee entirely just because you're pregnant."

"I sent you an email," she said primly, sipping the beverage.

"With annotated footnotes," he teasingly reminded her.

"I'm thorough," she shrugged with a hint of a playful smile. "Something you've never complained about in our bed."

"Mmmm," it was his turn to moan, unsure if it was the "our" or "bed" that turned him on more and not really caring. "Nope. Not complaining one bit."

She gave him a playful shove off the arm of her couch but instead of moving he shoved her back until there was enough room for him to sit beside her. They sat with shoulders touching, sipping their coffee and enjoying a companionable silence.

Brennan thought about the conversations she and the night watchman had had during the night and while she felt more relaxed than she had previously she wasn't sure she was ready to share her insecurities with Booth. True to his word, however, he didn't press her for any details on how the night had gone outside of the case. They talked about the preexisting injuries Brennan had discovered and Booth threw out a few theories for what could have happened to her.

As she was nearing end of her coffee Booth turned to her with a grin, "You up for some fieldwork, Bones?"

She nodded eagerly, setting the empty cup to the side and rising to her feet as fluidly as her belly would allow.

"Right then," Booth hopped up spryly, "let's go see what this helicopter guy can tell us."


	22. Evidence and Proof

**A/N: The summer months with two young kids and a few trips (including one to Comic-Con) thrown in here and there have kept me away from my writing but I'm happy to say we are back for good now and I should be posting regular updates to this and my other fics as well. Thanks to those of you patient enough to stick around and even more for those who review. I don't get to respond to each one like I'd like to but I do read them all and they are certainly a nice reward at the end of the long days.**

**Gum :)**

Evidence and Proof

While Booth wasn't overly fond of the weird way he looked at Brennan, Chris Markham was clearly affected by the news of Lauren's death and none of his investigator instincts screamed that this was their guy. If anything he was more surprised that his partner hadn't mentioned that Lauren was stabbed until the middle of the interview. Not that it was likely to have anything to do with their case since it had happened over a year ago, but still it was something she would've normally told him beforehand.

"Back to the lab?" he asked.

She nodded, "I want to listen to Dr. Eames' recordings and see if I can glean any further information from them."

Booth had enough paperwork in the back of the SUV to last him a month and offered to keep her company in her office while they both worked. At first he thought she was going to say no, but then a small, shy smile curved her lips and her head bobbed as she informed him she'd enjoy his company very much.

It was probably a good thing he did, as not too long after they'd settled in, Sweets popped by, no doubt hoping to snag a moment alone with the anthropologist and question her about how the case was affecting her. Instead Booth stood to greet him and then steered the shrink out, telling his partner they were going to grab some more coffee.

"Gonna tell me why you're over here spying on Bones?" Booth pressed, waiting until they were well out earshot of the office and the surrounding squints before saying anything.

"No, no," Sweets put his hands up as if innocent, "I'm just here to check in. Nothing more."

"I've got that covered," Booth said in no uncertain terms.

"But-"

"Look," Booth overrode the kid's protest, "I know Bones and I know how to deal with her when she gets like this so you'll just have to trust me, okay?"

"Okay," Sweets bowed his head once before meeting Booth's eyes squarely.

"Bones, she's a private person," confided Booth, "and she doesn't want to talk about that kind of stuff with just anybody. Especially a shrink."

"Psychology is a soft science," Sweets nodded wryly, "yes, I've heard that. What I see, though, is that she's over identifying with the victim: brilliant scientist, unmarried, consumed by her work. She can't help but draw parallels to her own life."

"Yeah well she's got me," Booth jabbed a thumb at his chest, "and I've got her back so don't worry about her."

Sweets opened his mouth to respond when the topic of their conversation appeared at the top of the steps.

"The victim was afraid of a man named Dworsky. D-W-O-R-S-K-Y," she informed Booth with a tired but triumphant smile.

Sweets excused himself, leaving the partners to exchange information and giving them a modicum of privacy.

"I'll go run this name and see if we can hunt him down," Booth told her, jotting the name on one of his note cards and replacing them in his jacket pocket.

She nodded, "I believe Hodgins had something to tell me so I'll need to talk with him before we leave."

Twenty minutes later they were downtown and had parked opposite of where Mike Dworsky was loading a car onto his tow truck.

"Thank you for intercepting Sweets earlier," Brennan offered as they walked side by side.

"Hey, I'm a meddlesome kinda guy that way," he winked, then turned his attention to the man they'd reached. "Dworsky, Mr. Dworsky. FBI, Special Agent Booth. This here is my associate Dr. Brennan."

They had to explain that they weren't concerned about the car he was towing but rather about his feelings toward Lauren Eames. While he claimed it was water under the bridge neither partner missed the undertones of bitterness in the man's voice when he spoke about her.

"You're saying she was cold-hearted?" Booth clarified.

Dworsky nodded, "Like Antarctica. What do you mean 'was?'"

"Someone beat her to death," Brennan beat him to the punch and stepped forward to grab something before he could stop her, "with something exactly like this."

Booth quickly moved his body in front of her, turning his back to the man as he hissed softly, "Bones, what are you doing?" They both looked down at the flashlight in her hand and he went on, concerned, "It's - it's not like you to pick up something that could be evidence.

The stunned look on her face as the reality of what she had done dawned on her just as Dworsky chimed in from behind them, "I want a lawyer."

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

The rest of the evening followed the same pattern as the previous night; though this time Booth sensed Brennan's restlessness at dinner and after receiving a promise from her that she would stop when she got tired he drove her back to the lab.

"I love you," his voice was as tender as the kiss he laid on her cheek as he opened the passenger door and helped her out.

"I know," her response was equally soft and she took a moment to lean into his strength before walking against the cold breeze into the lab.

He wanted to tell her that no one would blame her if she changed her mind and came back home with him after all but the way her eyes flicked back and forth between him and the lab door and the way her left foot tapped restlessly on the pavement, he knew neither one of them would be getting any sleep even if she came. For her part, Brennan's emotions had been churned to the point where she had to be there. Had to uncover why a person so much like herself would behave so irrationally. Had to clear the dark pall that hung over this case, threatening to shake Brennan to her very core. She'd already blundered two times too many for her own comfort; any more and she might begin to doubt her own judgement.

It wasn't until they were standing at the threshold that she realized Booth had escorted her across the parking lot and was holding the door open for her.

"Coming in?" she asked, unsure of what she wanted his answer to be.

Booth shook his head and winked, "You're a big girl, Bones, I think you can make it to your office without me."

One shaped eyebrow rose in sardonic disbelief even as the edge of her mouth curved in a small smile and she dipped her head in thanks. Their hands squeezed one last time before they separated and each went their own way.

There was something still bothering her about the head wound so while she inserted another of Lauren's CD in the player she moved to the bone room and began making a mold for her to examine more closely. As had happened previously, the voice she heard on the recording was her own and it seemed to interact with her thoughts, answering questions when she asked and pointing out certain clues along the way.

Tonight they discussed Charlie Whaling and his primary care physician who had a son Lauren described as a "drooling magpie." The women both agreed that just because one is alone does not mean one is necessarily lonely, though Brennan's thoughts drifted to the satisfaction she had found in sharing a life with Booth and to their unborn child.

"Did you hear what I said about Charlie?" the voice in her headphones asked, jerking her mind back to the present.

"Yes," huffed Brennan defensively even though she had not.

"You seem distracted. It's important," reproved Lauren.

Brennan quickly changed the subject to the helicopter pilot, but any attempts to draw the truth from the other woman only resulted in the denial of their relationship and a return to the dry facts of Charlie Whaling's case.

"So, he required life support?" queried Brennan.

The voice answered in the affirmative adding, "But my pleas to his family to give up his organs went unheeded."

"Musing out loud?"

This time the voice came from the doorway and Brennan looked up to see the night watchman, watching her, a plate of baked goods in his hand. "In the nine years that we've known each other, I've never heard you do that before."

"Actually...Micah," she defended herself as he fully entered the room, "I was having a conversation with the victim. I ask her questions, and she answers."

Micah gently teased her about that and as he had the night before Micah pointed out alternative reasons for why she might be thinking the way she was. All based on information he'd gathered at the lectures he'd attended at the Jeffersonian throughout the years. Which apparently were more valuable than the hours and benefits afforded to the security staff.

And as with the last night, when he saw the anthropologist yawn several times in the span of a few minutes he gently coaxed her to close down for the night and give her body a rest. Briefly, she considered spending another night on the couch in her office, but her stiff back and swollen feet groaned at the prospect and in the end she took a cab back to the apartment.

Slipping her shoes off just inside the doorway of their bedroom she allowed her dress to pool at her feet before padding over to the bed and seeking refuge in the warm covers. Booth shifted in bed with a soft grown, flinging an arm around her and pulling her close.

"Am I crazy?" the question was low and she wasn't sure she wanted an answer.

But Booth merely shrugged and pulled her closer, his voice rasping equally low in her ear, "Dunno, but I'm crazy about you."

She allowed herself a chuckle and shifted in his arms to face him as he peppered her neck with kisses, "Do you love me?"

"Yeah," the answer came with no hesitation and his eyes found hers in the dark. "Do you want me to prove it to you?"

"Mmm..." she traced a line across his perfect acromium and down to his toned abdomen, feeling more sure of this than anything else, "...if you're not too sleepy."


	23. Nowhere Fast

Nowhere Fast

"So Dworsky had an alibi?" Brennan sighed as they sipped coffee at the diner the next morning.

Booth nodded, as disappointed with the setback as she was, though he did have another suspect for them to check out. Apparently the city cops had gotten wind of a stabbing matching Lauren's description and traced it down to a two-bit drug dealer who Booth discovered worked in the same neighborhood Lauren Eames was buried in. Booth was bringing him in.

"You coming along for this one?" he wanted to know.

She tilted her head, "Do you want me to be there?"

"You're my partner, Bones," he reached across the table to envelop her hand in his, running a thumb across her knuckles, "I always want you there."

"I accept you hyperbole as a well-meaning attempt to placate my irrational fears," she allowed herself a tiny smile.

"Only because I love you," he countered with a smile of his own.

She rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of the sentiment.

"Aw, I love you too, Booth," a smarmy Hodgins dropped into the empty seat beside Booth and grabbed a donut hole from the middle of the table.

"Watch it, Squint," Booth glared.

"Whatever," Hodgins said through a mouthful of donut. "I've got news."

"Tell Bones," Booth said, standing up and squeezing Brennan's hand one last time. "I should get going."

"I'll join you shortly," she told him.

Booth had hardly stood up when Hodgins launched into his latest findings. He'd found opiates in the tree's root system and speculated that Lauren might have been a drug user. The thought was repugnant to Brennan because this woman was an intelligent scientist like she was. And intelligent people would not intentionally poison themselves. For the first time she had an understanding of what Booth meant when he said he felt something because she simply couldn't bring herself to believe that Lauren was a drug user.

She said as much to Hodgins and while he suggested a bone density test she could see he doubted the validity of her claims. With a huff of frustration she stood up and announced she needed to be at the Hoover, only realizing when she was halfway there that more than likely Hodgins had been stuck with the bill. He could afford it.

The suspect, who called himself Rhino, was abrasive and certainly seemed capable of murder; though he denied doing anything but "poking" Dr. Eames. What disturbed Brennan the most though was his allegation that the doctor had attempted to purchase drugs from him. Why did everyone keep insisting she was a drug user?

By the time they got the results back from the bone density test she was being pressed to her limit. Sweets following them to Booth's office was not helping.

"No," Brennan resisted the men's insistence that the test results proved nothing, "she had a T score over 2. An opiate-user would score a .8, maximum. Ergo, Ipso-Facto, Colombo, Oreo, she didn't have a drug problem."

Booth tilted his head, trying to figure out why she was being so stubborn about this, "What? That-that's not even Latin. I mean, all your bone density test proves is that she wasn't a habitual drug user."

"I don't like it when you two argue," Sweets put in.

"We're not arguing," insisted Booth, turning his glare on Sweets.

"We are," Brennan corrected, ever the precise one. She turned to focus on Booth again, "I'm saying that the victim wasn't a drug addict."

"Maybe someone shot her up with heroin before they killed her," Sweets interjected yet again ina feeble attempt to diffuse the tension.

"Yes," Brennan waved a hand. "See. Thanks for eavesdropping."

Booth came around his desk until he'd closed the gap between them and asked softly, "Bones, why are you taking this so personally? I mean, you're acting as though you're the one who's being accused of taking drugs."

Frustration with herself and her inability to identify the problem's root issue and communicate it made her fists clench and tears swell in her eyes. Their eyes were locked together, barely even registering Sweets' presence in the room, let alone whatever he was blathering about right now.

"I-I'm just tired," her voice wavered with her bottom lip.

"You haven't slept the last two nights," Booth moved even closer to block Sweets' view.

It was all she needed to compose herself and a second later she announced she was going back to the lab. Booth wanted to say more but stopped because of Sweets and merely let her go. The psychologist gave a concerned look which was answered by a warning glare and he backed out of the office, tail tucked between his legs.

Booth closed his office door and sat back down behind his desk with a weary sigh. He knew from her expression when she left that she was going to stay late at the lab again. To her credit she'd actually come home last night rather than sleep on her couch again, even though she just ended up tossing and turning.

Deciding that the quicker they solved this case the quicker everything could go back to normal, he threw himself into his paperwork and pored over every file he'd collected so far that might gain him a clue. He got nothing though, and when eleven o'clock rolled around he swung by the lab to pick Brennan up. She hadn't gotten anything either, but at least she was willing to come home and that night they both slept soundly out of sheer exhaustion.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

The next morning came far too soon for either of them and before they were halfway across town Booth got an urgent call on another case he was working with the ATF and they headed to the Hoover instead of the lab. Sweets had been called in on the meeting too and offered the use of his couch to a yawning Brennan since his morning schedule had been cleared. Grudgingly, she accepted the offer but within minutes of closing the door, dimming the lights, and closing her eyes she was asleep.

"Dr. Brennan," Sweets voice cut through her deep sleep and she rose slowly. "Dr. Brennan, Booth wanted to know if you'd like to get lunch?"

She swallowed a yawn, rubbed her eyes, and nodded wordlessly in Sweets' general direction. It was only when they were almost to the parking garage that she realized Booth hadn't joined them and at her inquiry she was informed the meeting was just now in its end stages and he would be meeting them at the Diner as soon as he was free to go.

"So I have some psychological insights into the victim," Sweets said conversationally as they lingered over the remnants of lunch waiting for Booth.

"Okay," Brennan invited him to continue, curious for anything anyone could offer at this point.

Sweets apparently had been bracing himself for an argument but got over his surprise quickly enough and proceeded to lay out some of the things he'd noted in going over Dr. Eames' file. She knew all too well the coping mechanisms of one who dealt with death on a daily basis but the words "controlling," "logical," and "detached" leapt out at her as Sweets spoke and once again she could not help but draw the parallels. Then he started talking about Eames' erratic behavior and while she challenged him to back up his theories she wasn't altogether certain he was incorrect.

He asked her how it was in any way rational for her to disregard his claims and she pounced on him, unable to stop her mind from twisting his words and reacting in fear and denial. He told her soothingly that she was one of his closest friends, listing that as only one of the many ways in which she and Lauren Eames differed. All she could think, however, was if he felt he had to make a case against her being like Eames he must have recognized their eerie similarities as well.

"I-I... I need to go. I...I will consider what you said," she stammered, feeling a sudden need to flee the eating establishment before she made a further spectacle of herself.


	24. No Regrets

No Regrets

Booth was enjoying his brisk walk, thankful to be free of the Hoover and on his way toward food when a familiar figure burst from the diner and nearly ran headlong into him.

"Easy there," he grinned, faltering only when he realized she wasn't running toward him but rather away from the diner. "Hey. Hey, what's wrong, Bones?"

"It's nothing," she assured him though she did nothing to remove herself from his embrace.

"Do I need to shoot Sweets?" he asked, watching the younger man slink away from the diner in the opposite direction.

Her head shook violently in response, "NO! No, he did nothing. My reactions are my own."

"Okay," that made no sense to him but it did to her so he took it at face value and decided to move on.

"I'd like to talk with the helicopter pilot again," she told him.

"Need me to tag along?"

She shook her head and insisted that he get lunch and continue his own work at the Hoover. It went against every grain in his over-protective body to let her go, but the set of her jaw told her he had no choice unless he wanted a fight.

"He was the closest person to her, Booth," she explained hurriedly. "If anyone could dispel the notion that she was suicidal it could be him."

That line of reasoning he understood even though he didn't get why she needed to question the pilot alone.

"Call me if you find anything," he forced a smile and squeezed her hand.

She muttered something that sounded like an affirmative under her breath and scooted away as quickly as she could, leaving Booth alone on the sidewalk. He watched until his eyes couldn't follow her any more before turning and heading for the diner. The lunch rush was dying down and while Booth was glad for the quiet it only gave him more time to think.

His gut was screaming that something was wrong but he couldn't pin it down any further now than he had at any other point during this case. The feeling followed him from lunch through the rest of the day, making it nearly impossible to focus on any real work. She texted him around four o'clock, letting him know she'd be staying late again and by five he gave up any hope that he was going to be able to catch up on his paperwork.

He hesitated to leave, but only for a moment. That morning he'd purposefully insisted on dropping her off at work so that he'd have an excuse to come get her and as he pulled up to the Jeffersonian lot he noticed it was virtually deserted. Again he wondered if his being here would only upset her more, so instead of going inside he found a space that would let him keep an eye on the front door without making it obvious.

Four hours into his private stakeout his patience paid off. Through the rain he watched her appear on the sidewalk and stand as if waiting for someone or something. Moments later a taxi splashed through the gathering puddles, coming to a stop where she stood. She got in.

Booth wasted no time cranking his engine and tailing the cab, making sure to still keep his distance. They drove through the city and Booth's jaw clenched when he realized where they were headed: Woodbridge.

The cab stopped and through the sluicing rain Booth watched his partner thank the cabby and get out.

"What are you doing, Bones?" he muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing to find her in the gloom.

He was already standing beside the SUV debating his next move when he heard the engine rumble just above the pounding rain. Like an avenging angel he covered the chasm between them in no time and snatched her just as he felt the car brush past his jacket and speed off into the blackness.

"Bones!" He clutched her to himself, pulling them both under the relative dryness of the underpass, "Bones, what are you doing here?"

"W-what are you doing here," she countered in a shaky voice, her eyes still wide with fear from the near miss.

The very Brennan response soothed his fears long enough for him to mange a smarmy reply, "I don't know. Following you to a bad part of town and saving your life. You know, the usual. Your turn."

There was a beat of silence between them, but her eyes locked on his and eventually her words tumbled down with the rain to the pavement beneath them, "Lauren came to Woodland to beg the family of a brain-dead boy to give his heart to Sam Dworsky."

"Oh," that explained why Brennan had come here at least, "So, what? They... they were the ones that killed her?"

"No, Booth," she shook her head vehemently, water flying from her matted down hair. " No. When Lauren was really disappointed or upset, it's like Sweets said. She couldn't handle the intense emotion, so she'd do something dangerous."

"Right," a picture was beginning to form in his mind. "Like coming here in the middle of the night?"

Brennan's chin shot up and it was as if something had struck her for the first time since the whole mess had started, "I'm not her." Her head shook as if getting him to understand this was her lifeline, "We're - we're not the same person at all. It's just the universe turned upside down for three days."

That he didn't follow but he shoved it aside for the moment and focused on what mattered, "What happened to her?"

"She bought the heroin for the danger of it," Brennan explained. "To feel something. She put it in her pocket. She got hit by a car." Here she paused ever so slightly and looked at the empty road over his shoulder, "Just like I almost did. The impact explains the defensive wounds. She struck her head over there."

Booth followed her gaze to a cement slab no different from the one that had killed Brianna Swanson so many years ago, and he nodded in understanding, "So it was the driver that buried her in the park."

Her head bobbed, "I can't prove any of this."

"I know," he said, feeling too how much those words cost his facts-driven partner.

"But you still believe me?" came the small reply.

"Yeah, Bones," he reassured her, pulling her close. "Of course I do, alright?" She nodded and all of a sudden he was aware of just how drenched they'd both become. "Let's get you and Bean home, what do ya say?"

She nodded mutely, saying nothing as he ushered her across the dark road and back to the SUV. He helped her up and shut the passenger door behind her before heading to the driver's side. Two minutes later the engine was purring, the heat was blasting, and the lone towel he'd scavenged from the backseat was dripping as much as they were.

"Maybe you just need a couple days off," he finally plucked up the courage to say as he drove back to their apartment.

"I'm all right now," she insisted, her voice far more solid than it had been minutes ago. "Except I..." she hesitated, then forced the words out, "I made a mistake."

"No." Booth shook his head, "No, I told you my opinion. I mean, you got it right."

"Not everything," again, Booth got the impression that he was missing something important as Brennan rambled on. "She died with regrets."

"Come on, Bones," he reached a hand over to capture her free one closest to him, rubbing small circles with the pad of his thumb. "Everybody has regrets."

"I heard her, you know?" He didn't know but he nodded so that she would keep talking. "Micah says that all we get are these...dim, staticky messages from the universe."

"Who is this Micah guy?" In his head he ran down the list of names of all the security personal he'd hired for the Jeffersonian over the past six years.

"The night watchman but he attends a lot of lectures," she shook her head as if to steer her thoughts back on track, "Anyway, the point is, she never gave him a chance."

"Micah?" now Booth was fully lost.

"No," her head was shaking as fast as the words were spilling out. "No, the helicopter pilot. He offered himself to her, but she never gave him a chance. That was her regret."

Here Brennan stopped. She looked down at her bulging abdomen, then up at the man beside her, eyes as guileless as a doe, "I got the signal, Booth. I don't want to have any regrets."

"I don't know what that means," his mouth quirked at the small smile he tried to restrain.

Her eyes were watery and as the silence lingered his smile faltered. Finally she met his eyes and uttered the six words that would change his life. Forever.


	25. Cryptic Interlude

**A/N: I ran out of time for a full-fledged update on a Bones-less Bones Day but I wanted to finish this episode off. Thanks for all the reviews. I'll update soon.**

**-Gum :)**

Cryptic Interlude

For some reason it didn't surprise her to meet Micah as he was going off duty when she went into the lab the next morning. He and Booth met, shook hands, and parted with Booth excusing himself to talk with Hodgins.

"How'd it work out?" Micah asked as lab personnel milled around them.

" I listened to the universe. I felt something." Brennan's voice was softer than usual, "I'm happy, but I'm also sad."

"That's so much better than dead," his easy smiled quelled the nerves that still hadn't settled. "Or even dead inside."

She tilted her chin, regarding him, "You hear that in a lecture?"

"I got my own story, Dr. Brennan," Micah told her. "Just like you. Just like everybody. I got my own sad story"

A look of understanding passed between the two of them and he gave her the smallest of smiles before going his own way. Brennan watched him slip the sliding glass doors and disappear, then walked back to her own office. The case file she'd so hastily discarded last night on her way out the door was on her desk and she picked up the picture of Lauren Eames. This time, she didn't see nearly as many similarities as she had for the past several days and she sighed in quiet relief as she tucked it back in the file and sat down at her desk.

There was a soft rap just before Booth appeared in the doorway.

"I should head over to the Hoover," he said. "Break it to Caroline that there's no bad guy to prosecute."

"Hodgins didn't find any car paint particulates?" she deduced.

Booth shook his head and shrugged, "It was worth a shot, at least."

Brennan nodded, accepting the quick kiss he offered and shooing him out, claiming she had work to do. When the door shut behind him, she picked up the lone sheet of paper on her desk and fingering it lightly, her eyes alternating between the paper and the door. "Three days," she whispered to the empty room. "Three days for the world to turn right side up again."


	26. Six Little Words

Six Little Words

On any given day, 333 Constitution Avenue Northwest, teemed with activity, be it the nosy tourists in their Open Top Sightseeing bus snapping pictures of the cylindrical building and its smaller companions from the outside; or the denizen judges, attorneys, and law-enforcement officers meting out justice in one way or another from within. And on most days, Angela Pearly Gates Montenegro-Hodgins, would've loved the opportunity to study either the building or the passing people, but at the moment her eyes roved to and fro seeking one person only.

"She'll be here," her husband assured her, scanning the crowd as well.

"She better," the artist grumbled, shoving her hands further inside her coat as the cool, crisp breeze picked up again.

"Since when has she been anything less than fully reliable?" Hodgins countered, bouncing a little bit on the balls of his feet.

A week ago Angela would've been sure of her true answer to that question but one week ago they'd all been at Brennan and Booth's apartment when a case had been dropped into their laps that had wreaked more havoc on the forensic anthropologist's reason and logic than Angela had ever seen in the past six years; including Booth's fake death. It had only been three days since that case had closed and while it seemed everything had gone back to normal, Angela wasn't fully convinced just yet.

"Am I late?" a familiar voice asked from behind Hodgins, who whipped around immediately at the sound of her voice.

Angela sagged when she realized it was Cam, not Brennan, who'd joined them and she shook her head.

"Wait," Hodgins cocked an eyebrow, "Dr. B asked you to meet her here too?"

Cam nodded, producing her phone that bore the same cryptic text message the other pair had received, "Any idea what she wants? Or if Booth is involved?"

Angela shook her head while Hodgins muttered something about Booth always being involved and as a trio they went back to searching for their tardy co-worker.

"Over here!" Hodgins began waving his arms suddenly, catching the attention of more than one passerby.

"Thanks," a puffing Dr. Lance Sweets asked, jogging up to join the small circle. He looked from face to face, obviously puzzled.

"You got the text too, huh?" Angela asked.

"Uh, text?" the bewilderment on the young man's face deepened. "No. No, Booth just told me to meet him here at noon."

"So Booth is involved," Hodgins took in that piece of information and chewed on it.

He'd only worked out eight probable scenarios - not the least of which being this could all be a plot by some nefarious criminal they'd ticked off at some point in the last six years - when the couple in question came into view, bickering animatedly about something and blithely ignorant to the consternation brewing within the small group they were headed toward. Brennan detached herself from his arm and was greeting her friends, all the while continuing to move forward toward the building.

"What are you guys all standing out here for?" Booth looked surprised, "It's freezing."

"Bren's text didn't say this was an indoor event," Angela answered dryly.

Like newly found sheep with a shepherd the foursome turned as one and followed the couple up the steps and inside the courthouse building.

"'Bout time you people showed up," huffed a very well-dressed Caroline Julian, rising from a bench just inside the cozy lobby. "Not like I've got all day, you know?"

"If being here is an inconvenience-" Brennan started.

"Oh, no!" Caroline cut her off, head wagging back and forth eyes bright with intensity, "There is no way in hell I'm missing this after all the nonsense you've put me through, Cher!"

"Great," muttered Hodgins, "the lawyer's in on it too."

Once again Booth and Brennan led the way down a labyrinth of corridors, finally stopping at a door marked, "Marcus Haddoes."

A murmur moved through those who still had no idea what they were doing and what was about to happen and when the door swung open it didn't lend them any clues; though more than one jaw dropped.

"Hey, Baby Girl," Max Keenan rose fluidly from the chair he'd been lounging in and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "His Honor and I here were just catching up on old times."

Brennan rolled her eyes, but each eye instantly turned to the front of the room as the judge cleared his throat.

"My lunch break ends in twenty minutes, people," he began. "Now, this is my turf so I expect you all to behave. I'm still a shy man and I'd still be perfectly happy to kick any of you out given the slightest excuse. Miss Julian?"

"You heard the man," Caroline barked. "Bug guy, you take the boy wonder over there," she pointed a meaty finger at the right side of the judge's desk even as she shooed Angela and Cam over to the left side. She turned to Booth, "You got rings?"

"I do," Jared Booth answered with a smirk as he strode through the door with Padme by his side.

Two more people slipped in the door and Caroline glared them into position as well, waiting a long moment before asking, "Did you invite the Pope too or can we get this going?"

Booth gave a nod.

"Okay, then," the prosecutor nodded. "In case you genius-level people haven't figured it out, we're here today to make official what all of us in this room figured out long before these two fools did."

From her place just behind Brennan, who had turned to face Booth near the center of the judge's desk, Angela let out a muted squeak as understanding dawned. Brennan turned her head toward the noise and gave a bemused grin when Angela mouthed the word "wedding" as Caroline continued to pontificate.

"Don't you two have something to say to each other?" Caroline asked the couple at the center of the informal ceremony.

"Bones," Booth was the first one to talk and the whole room held a collective breath as he took her hands, "I knew. Right from the beginning, I knew. All today means is that now everyone else will know too; and you and me and Bean and Parker will be our own kind of family. And I'll keep knowing and letting you know that I know until I inevitably drop dead before you."

There were more than a few quizzical looks at Booth's last statement, but Brennan's eyes were brimming with tears as Jared fished the ring from his pocket and handed it to Parker, who handed it to his father. As if it were made of the finest porcelain, Booth took her had and slid a simple golden band onto her ring finger.

Silence filled the small room as the guests waited for the ceremony to continue.

"Whenever you're ready, Cherie," Caroline said softly to the very emotional bride.

With a feather-light brush of his thumb, Booth tilted her chin up just enough to lock eyes with her. That seemed to calm whatever firestorm of emotions that were at war within her and the longer she continued to gaze into their depths the calmer she became.

"Booth," the word was barely audible as she reached up and instinctively smoothed his tie before weaving her fingers with his, "I-I'm not a gambler, I'm not a heart person, and I do not know things in the same manner you do. I'm a scientist. Part of a scientist's job is to gather data and make a reasonable hypothesis based of said facts. Over the past six years I've gathered a significant body of evidence pertaining to our relationship. My hypothesis is that we possess the qualities and characteristics necessary to form a successful romantic partnership. That we both complement and enhance one another's lives.

"There was a time," she admitted as if he were the only person in the room, "that I was unwilling to take the emotional risks involved in venturing into a long-term, monogamous relationship with you. Recent events have shown me, however, that not doing so could lead to regret and I don't wish to have any regrets. Therefore I'm pledging myself as a full partner in this marriage, be it for 30, or 40, or 50 years, or even beyond."

It was with sure, steady hands that she took a thick, worn-looking gold band from Parker and placed it on the appropriate phalanx.

"By the power vested in me by the District of Columbia, I now pronounce you man and wife," the long-forgotten Judge Haddoes announced, shouldering his judicial robes. "And I've got to get to court now."

He scribbled his signature and the date on all the proper forms while the newlyweds shared their first kiss, then after shaking hands all around he congratulated Booth and Brennan, admonished Caroline to file the paperwork correctly, and left. The party was quickly moved to Sid's.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Brennan sank back into a booth surveying the scene in front of her. Hodgins, Angela, Sweets, and Cam took up one table and were currently debating whether the insights Sweets brought to the team were more substantial than what Hodgins brought. Just beyond them Padme Booth threw back her head and laughed along with Parker as Jared shared yet another anecdote from his and Booth's childhood. Meanwhile, Max and Hank were sharing a drink up at the bar.

Booth was flitting in between the groups, throwing smiles around like party favors and, overall, enjoying himself. Every so often he would migrate back to her and they would chat, only to be interrupted by Jared or Angela tapping their glasses in an effort to get the couple to kiss. Angela, Brennan guessed, did it to indulge her puckish side while Jared's motivation seemed more rooted in a desire to embarrass his older brother. The newlyweds indulged both of them.

"I still can't believe you invited them to our wedding by texting," he teased as they both joined the table of squints after dinner.  
"Not a wedding," Angela glared at her friend, "a meeting. That's what she told us."

"It seemed prudent at the time," Brennan shrugged.

Hodgins gave a short laugh and looked at his wife, "Translation: she didn't want you freaking out."

"I do not 'freak out,' Jack Hodgins," Angela bristled.

Jack would've begged to differ but he caught Cam shaking her head slightly out of the corner of his eye and given the highly hormonal state his wife was in, he decided to just nod in agreement and leave it at that, turning instead to Booth, "How'd you let your crowd know, big man?"

"Bones and I told Parker in person," Booth smiled at the memory, then chucked a thumb at his brother and grandfather. "We called those two and got Jared to agree to bring Pops up for us."

"And Sweets?" Brennan was curios to know as she'd left the task of inviting the young man to Booth.

"He-" Sweets began.

"I wrote him a note," Booth bulldozed over Sweets quickly.

"A Post-It Note!" Sweets interjected.

"Hand-written," Booth protested.

"You stuck it to my forehead!" Sweets rolled his eyes and Hodgins enjoyed a laugh at his friend's expense, while Brennan elbowed Booth in the ribs for giving her a hard time about the texting.

"Oh look," Booth stood up suddenly, "here comes Sid with the cake!"

Sid was nowhere to be seen but a few minutes later he did indeed appear with a cake in one hand and a steaming apple pie in the other. All four Booth men in attendance gave the bartender a hearty thanks before making short work of the dessert and the half gallon of vanilla ice cream that came with it. Meanwhile, Brennan and the rest of the party enjoyed a delicious chocolate layer cake that earned rave reviews from all; including Booth, who claimed that as the groom it was his right to eat whatever he wanted.

"Do we need to call it a night?" Booth asked her when nine o'clock rolled around, as she was visibly starting to flag.

She shook her head. Sid had cleared a dance floor for them and everyone was clearly having a good time and she didn't want to ruin that for them; or for Booth either.

"Bones," his voice was low and to the rest of the party it looked like the couple was merely enjoying an intimate moment, "you've been on your feet for the better part of the day, not to mention you haven't had a decent night's sleep since Lauren Eame's file crossed your desk. I'm willing to bet your feet are swollen and you're fighting off a migraine."

"Headache," she corrected.

"Same difference," he waved her off, clearing his throat as he stood to address their guests.

She watched every eye in the room turn to him and marveled, not for the first time, at the way he could work a crowd. They laughed at his jokes, raised their glasses as he proposed a final toast, and gave a raucous round of applause when he announced that it was time for him to take his bride home. For a moment she thought about objecting to his claim of ownership as a sudden fear of what she'd just committed to reared its ugly head, but a single tender look reminded her that this was Booth and her heart was safe with him.

Innumerable hugs and well wishes were exchanged as the couple rose to leave and they were pelted by confetti as they made for the exit; though no one was more gregarious than Caroline, who threw twice as much confetti as everyone else.

Later that night, in the privacy of their apartment, Booth asked her to say the words she'd spoken three days ago one more time and with a wide smile, she obliged.

_"I heard her, you know?" He didn't know but he nodded so that she would keep talking. "Micah says that all we get are these...dim, staticky messages from the universe."_

_"Who is this Micah guy?" In his head he ran down the list of names of all the security personal he'd hired for the Jeffersonian over the past six years._

_"The night watchman but he attends a lot of lectures," she shook her head as if to steer her thoughts back on track, "Anyway, the point is, she never gave him a chance."_

_"Micah?" now Booth was fully lost._

_"No," her head was shaking as fast as the words were spilling out. "No, the helicopter pilot. He offered himself to her, but she never gave him a chance. That was her regret."_

_Here Brennan stopped. She looked down at her bulging abdomen, then up at the man beside her, eyes as guileless as a doe, "I got the signal, Booth. I don't want to have any regrets."_

_"I don't know what that means," his mouth quirked at the small smile he tried to restrain._

_Her eyes were watery and as the silence lingered his smile faltered. Finally she met his eyes and uttered the six words that would change his life. Forever._

"I love you, Seeley Booth," she prefaced the words, putting as much tenderness into them now as she had on that dark, rainy night. "I'm ready to be your wife."


	27. Don't Lose Your Head

Don't Lose Your Head

"So how was New England, Sweetie?" Angela asked as the friends sat down to lunch at the diner.

Brennan smiled and began describing the past week to her friend. In truth the last week had been wonderfully restful for both of them. From Washington they traveled up the coast, taking their time to stop at various tourist attractions on the way, until at last they reached a small bed and breakfast in Lexington, Massachusetts, where they remained for the rest of their stay. Anchored there, they had gone everywhere from Walden's Pond to downtown Boston. Fall was just beginning to settle in and the trees with their changing leaves were a sight to behold. They had also visited some of the lighthouses along the coast and gone on one of the ghost tours in Salem at night.

"I'm so happy for you," Angela sighed when Brennan finally paused for a breath. And she was. If anyone deserved a restful break it was these two. "Meanwhile, while you and that hunky husband of yours were enjoying your honeymoon, Jack and I found our own place!"

"Haven't you been living on the Hodgins' Estate for some time now?" Brennan aske, slightly confused.

Angela nodded, "But it wasn't ours, you know? It was his and his family's; has been for generations. We didn't give the place up or anything like that, but I really didn't want to raise Junior there. I wanted our own place where we could be us."

"I see," said Brennan, even though she saw no difference in where one chose to raise one's children. "How did you go about looking for it?"

With a laugh Angela described the case they had worked with Perotta and Clark while Booth and Brennan had been out of town and how much she'd liked the apartment that the victim had been found in. It had been no trouble for Hodgins to secure a lease, and in fact the landlord had been so grateful for new tenants he'd bent over backwards to get the place ready for them on time.

"We're having a housewarming party this weekend," the artist informed her, then with a coy smile added, "if you newlyweds aren't busy."

She opened her mouth to respond when Caroline Julian burst through the diner's entrance and bustled over to them.

Frowning the lawyer demanded, "Where's Booth?"

"At the Hoover," Brennan replied with a frown of her own. "Why?"

Caroline didn't reply immediately, but her frown deepened and her brow furrowed. Her knuckles whitened as her grip on the files in her hand tightened and she pursed her lips, finally giving the other women a curt nod in farewell.

"I'll go with you," Brennan called after her as Caroline turned to leave.

The lawyer didn't wait for her so Brennan lost no time rising from her seat and ambling after her as fast as her pregnant girth would allow.  
"And she's off," murmured Angela with a bemused grin, not for the last time abandoned in the wake of Brennan's curiosity.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B&B

"So you're telling me there's nothing we can do?" Booth eyed Caroline intently, his poker chip sliding in and out of his fingers as he spoke.

"Nope," Caroline's head wagged slowly, "it's her right."

"She's guilty," asserted Brennan.

For a long moment no one spoke. Justice was something they all believed in and none of them would deny the need for checks and balances, but in this case none of them were satisfied with due process.

Caroline hesitated before dropping the next bomb, "She's requested that Sweets be her escort."

Brennan shook her head at the same time Booth released a vehement, "NO!"

"It's her right," Caroline repeated the words with a heavy sigh. "Though it's his choice to refuse."

"Which he won't," Booth shook his head.

"Though he should," added Brennan. "Heather Taffet's motives cannot be trusted. She no doubt has a specific reason for requesting to ride to her appeal with Sweets."

"No doubt," Caroline agreed, "and all of us here know that while baby boy shrink is a genius she could still get under his skin in a heartbeat. And we all know he won't turn down her request, either."

"So where does that leave us?" Brennan voiced the question none of them wanted to face.

Caroline pointed a beefy finger at the anthropologist and said with force, "That leaves you as far away from this mess as you can get. Face it, Cher," she glared at Brennan when the other woman began to object, "this is FBI business not to mention this is the last place you want to be showing up all pregnant and hormonal. You barely kept yourself objective the last time and the stakes are definitely higher now."

"I can do it," Brennan assured her coolly.

"You can't," Caroline stated, then softened ever so slightly, "and that's a good thing. Separates us from those monsters. Even if you could keep it all together you wouldn't be allowed to go. Booth here's been assigned to the security team and the last thing he needs is knowing his pregnant wife is in the thick of it."

"I'm perfectly capable of seeing to my own safety," huffed Brennan, crossing her arms over her chest. "Nor do I see that the threat of danger is as high as you seem to think it will be."

"Crowds are always unpredictable," Booth pointed out. "And this is The Gravedigger."

Brennan turned toward him squaring her shoulders to effectively block Caroline from the conversation as she spoke to Booth as quietly as she could, "You don't want me to be there."

It was more a statement than a question but he nodded anyway, "It's gonna be a powder keg out there, Bones. If something happened to you or Bean..."

He let the statement dangle there but she could finish it well enough on her own and after a brief pause she capitulated and turned back to face the prosecutor, "You'll be overseeing the operation?"

"At every step," Caroline assured her. "And don't you worry about this appeal business either. It might be her right but I will see to it that after this she will never get the chance again."

While Caroline's words were bold, they all knew that the appeals process was slippery ground at best; especially given how close they'd come at the original trial to not getting a conviction. As predicted, Sweets gulped noticeably when informed of Taffet's wishes, but agreed to the terms and refused to be swayed once his decision was made. For her part, Brennan was thankful that over the next two weeks no new cases arrived for them as Booth and his team at the FBI were already working long nights going over their security plan. More than a few times she found herself alone at the apartment and once she even ended up falling asleep on the couch waiting up for him.

Though the nights were long, Booth did make every effort to stop by the lab during the day when he could slip away, even going so far as to institute a mandatory one-hour lunch break for his team. Some days he and Brennan would go outside and meander around the Jeffersonian grounds, while other times he grabbed a cat nap on her couch while she focused on her own work. No matter what they did, that time with his small family became precious to Booth and he found it recharged him enough to face the rest of the day.

Finally the court date dawned as bright and sunny and crisp as any other fall day in DC. Booth was already up and dressed and halfway through the paper by the time Brennan came out of bedroom, freshly showered and dressed. After pouring herself a steaming mug of tea she walked over to where he sat, laying her free hand on his shoulder in silent support. His eyes didn't move from the paper, but his hand moved up to capture the tips of her fingers and give them a soft squeeze. She was just about to move away when he caught her hand more firmly, pushing his seat back from the table as he pulled her down into his lap. Their foreheads touched and though no words were spoken they each gathered strength from the other.

"Gotta go," Booth murmured, rubbing her belly softly as one of the coo-coo clocks chimed in the background.

She nodded.

When she arrived at the Jeffersonian it was clear that no work would be done any time soon. Several chairs had been crowded into Angela's office while the Angelatron showed live coverage of the courthouse from several of the local news outlets. The Gravedigger's original trial had been heavily publicized and this appeal hearing would be no different. A fair-sized crowd had gathered behind the temporary blockade.

"There's Booth!" someone in the room called out.

"And Caroline!" exclaimed another.

Brennan's eyes, however, were focused on the van, wondering if Caroline was right about Taffet trying to metaphorically get under Sweets' skin during the brief drive. Knowing how calculating the woman was she wouldn't put it past her. She watched the van inch slowly toward the courthouse and no sooner had she realized they would not be able to enter where Booth had originally planned she saw him wave the van in a different direction. Silence had fallen over the room as the van came to a halt and the door was opened.

The news camera zoomed in, focusing on Taffet with Sweets following close behind. He looked shaken.

There was a collective gasp of horror from the scientists when, in an instant, the place where Heather Taffet's head was became a bloody stump and the rest of her body slumped to the ground.

Brennan waited long enough to see Booth enter the camera frame before she turned away and headed to collect her gear as quickly as she could.


	28. Process of Elimination

Process of Elimination

Booth was impressed with how quickly the squints arrived on the scene, though once Cam informed him that they were watching it on the news he felt a little ill. This wasn't the first exploding head he'd seen and even without a bullet he knew came from a sniper rifle.

"Booth! Booth!" a familiar figured pushed through the raucous crowd and thankfully they parted for her. "I'm so glad you're okay. Are there any other victims?"

Booth thought about the innocent kids who'd been dragged along by their parents that might be scarred for life, not to mention Sweets, but shook his head, "Just Heather Taffet."

"Did you see the shooter?"

"No, I was looking at the crowd," he was slightly disgusted with himself on this point. "Next thing I knew her head was gone."

She looked over his shoulder at Sweets and asked about him and Booth assured her they were bringing in the trauma guy since the kid had gotten pieces of Taffet splattered all over him. Meanwhile Caroline bustled over, seemingly more worried about Sweets than the fact that they had a murderer on the loose. Not that a part of him didn't mind that Taffet would never bury another person alive but he didn't like people who made their own rules outside of the law.

Brennan, on the other hand, didn't like the FBI techs messing with her part of the crime scene and Booth had to make sure his people knew that the head went to the Jeffersonian and the body to the FBI.

"Where are you going?" Brennan all but skipped behind him as he moved away from the crime scene and toward a stone wall.

He swore as his eyes confirmed what his gut was screaming. The shot had come from a high-powered rifle, which meant the shot was made from further away than he'd originally guessed. Only a handful of people could've made that shot. More than likely, he thought as he scanned the city skyline, he knew the shooter.

B&B&B&B&B&B&B

Brennan spent the morning cataloguing skull fragments with Wendell while Booth spent it at the Hoover drawing up a suspect list. Unfortunately, as Caroline pointed out there were too many people who wanted Taffet dead and not much to go on. No one, including him, had heard the shot and it could be a while before Angela translated the "Shots Fired" data into something useful.

The other thing on his "To Do" list was check in on Sweets. Though he worked for the Bureau and had been out in the field with them in the past, Sweets was still fairly sheltered from the grisly side of their cases. When it came down to it, even Brennan had seen more in her world travels than Sweets had, and she'd made Booth promise that he would make sure Sweets was handling the trauma as well as could be expected.

When he first arrived at the door to Sweets' office he thought he heard someone else in there, but when he popped his head in Sweets was alone. He looked like hell and he probably wouldn't be getting sleep anytime soon so Booth took pity on him and let him think Booth bought his line about coming to grips with things. That Sweets wanted his door closed when Booth left was another indicator that he wasn't coping well and Booth made a mental note to send somebody else in later to check on him.

He dialed Brennan's number and she picked up on the first ring.

"Is Sweets okay?" she pounced on the issue right away.

He chuckled a little, plopping his feet up on his desk as he waited for his ancient desktop to boot up, "Your baby duck is fine, Bones. Well, as fine as can be expected. I'll send Caroline in too in a little bit."

That seemed to mollify her enough to switch over to the case. She relayed what the lab had gotten so far, while he took notes for the briefing he had to give and they made plans to swap notes over lunch.

"One more thing," he said reluctantly before she hung up. "I had to put Max on the suspect list."

There was a pause on the other end before she asked, "You think he could've done this?"

"Could've? Yes," he said carefully. "Did? No. But since the last time she was transferred I had to body-slam him to stop him from taking her out I had to go there. I'm sorry, Bones."

"No," she said a little too quickly. "No, Booth, you're just doing your job."

"Like I said, Bones, I don't think he did it this time, okay?"

"I understand," she sighed. "And while I too find it highly unlikely that he would risk taking matters into his own hands, such an act is within the realm of possibility; especially given his attachment to our unborn child."

"He'll stick around to watch Bean grow up," Booth assured her. "Count on it."


End file.
